2019 Bahrain F1 GP - Sakhir

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Zico

Yep, every time I see him spin, I cant help but think that he really needs the old RBs with the blown diffusers to be at his best. He looked unbeatable back then... now he just looks a mid tier driver.

---

Vettel needs to feel consistency in his car to perform at his best. When things were inconsistent at Redbull, he had a poor showing against an hungry rookie eager to prove himself. That situation proves nothing. It certainly does not prove that Ricciado is better than Vettel at his best. I think Vettel would emerge when the Ferrari proves to be consistently fast and reliable. This is an opportunity for Leclerc to take some easy advantages and wins. But l think this would change very quickly when Vettel gets his head in the right place.

I certainly don't buy the comments that Vettel won four world title because he had the car to do it and there were no credible contenders to make his wins harder than it was. You could easily say the same for every world champion that has been. Vettel, like Hamilton and Ricciado, had a shaky start to the 2019 season. Hamilton has recovered from a brusing loss to Bottas at Australia. The Mercedes pair resumed the status quo when we arrived in Bahrain, with Bottas adrift by some margin. Vettel need to do the same at China at least. He struggled to get his setup to its optimum in Bahrain and was slower all weekend as a result. The same can be said for Ricciado who is having is arse kicked by Hulkenburg.

I would say, don't write off Vettel yet, he is going to get it right soon l hope.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by journeyman racer

20 remaining races. It took the first 8 laps.

I wonder what took you so long?

---

I admit I was wrong to jump to conclusions here. I saw Bottas lagging behind Hamilton as had been the case for a large part of 2018 and I already decided that he was back to his slow self, only to later discover that he had car damage.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by journeyman racer

Just something to consider. I emphasise "consider". Nico Rosberg, in one of his YT videos of Bahrain, pointed out that Bahrain is an (I'm paraphrasing) easy circuit for a new guy, less experienced, or disadvantageous driver. Pointing out his FL he set on debut, numerous guys getting their first PP there, and it was the first time Hamilton got the better of Alonso in 07.*

---

I'd point out that the Hamilton/Alonso comparison here isn't particularly useful given that a screen fell on top of Alonso's car and damaged it, so the car handling was not quite there, which may explain the large difference in both drivers' performances that weekend (notably, it was the only time in the first five races in which McLaren didn't get both drivers on the podium).

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

Vettel needs to feel consistency in his car to perform at his best. When things were inconsistent at Redbull, he had a poor showing against an hungry rookie eager to prove himself. That situation proves nothing. It certainly does not prove that Ricciado is better than Vettel at his best. I think Vettel would emerge when the Ferrari proves to be consistently fast and reliable. This is an opportunity for Leclerc to take some easy advantages and wins. But l think this would change very quickly when Vettel gets his head in the right place.

I certainly don't buy the comments that Vettel won four world title because he had the car to do it and there were no credible contenders to make his wins harder than it was. You could easily say the same for every world champion that has been. Vettel, like Hamilton and Ricciado, had a shaky start to the 2019 season. Hamilton has recovered from a brusing loss to Bottas at Australia. The Mercedes pair resumed the status quo when we arrived in Bahrain, with Bottas adrift by some margin. Vettel need to do the same at China at least. He struggled to get his setup to its optimum in Bahrain and was slower all weekend as a result. The same can be said for Ricciado who is having is arse kicked by Hulkenburg.

I would say, don't write off Vettel yet, he is going to get it right soon l hope.

---

He must have had an 'inconsistant' car for quite a while then.... 4 spins last year and 1 spin already this year is pretty poor form in my book. I'd expect that from a fresh rookie, not from a worthy 4 time WDC.
I'll also expect a worthy 4 time WDC to totally destroy LeClerc over the course of this season with no need for team orders.. so I'm not going to write him off just yet, if he at least achieves that I'll give him his dues and that will likely alter my opinion of him.

Post RedBull it looks more and more that he chokes when under any real pressure and that is the basis for my opinions.. but lets wait and see if he can over come that this season.

ALFA Romeo is the only team name that features in both the 1st GP and the 1000th Grand Prix’.