Originally Posted by
jens
Oh, and I have to spare a comment about Vettel too, the driver I am most cheering for. But apparently it looks like he has forgotten, how to even qualify. Which throughout years was always his strength and even in 2014 he was pretty formidable in qualis (but lost out to Ricciardo in races).
Vettel is a somewhat unique case among drivers as it seems like he is a pretty emotional/sensitive character, and this influences his performances. Which means he needs a "positive vibe" in the team to deliver results. Last year he was brilliant, and we remember 2015 was a positive year for Ferrari. Even 2016 started out on a pretty promising note, but some crashes, reliability problems and car performance problems have broken Vettel. It looks like the British Grand Prix was the turning point of the season, where Seb lost his heart. Since then he has been merely matching Räikkönen.
I know from personal experience that "things going for you" or "things working against you" can influence the emotional state and also influence "performance" to put it this way. So I can relate to Vettel. He is not like Alonso in this sense, who can swallow all the cr@p, dig deep, and still wring the speed out of the car to achieve a ... P10.
On the flipside Kimi has had a really solid season. I have been calling for his retirement for years already TBH, but I give credit, where credit is due. This year he is performing like a very solid #2 at the very least.