Say ‘Vettel’ out loud. Did you hear that echo? That echo that seemed to say ‘Schumacher’? It was a metaphor anyway. Don’t read too much into it if you didn’t. If you literally did though, then be careful, because you sound a bit mental. I was just sort of pointing out that there domination of the sport seemed similar. Go see a doctor, mate.
Anyway, Sebastian Vettel is just one point away from crowning himself World Champion for the second year running. Without doubt, absolute congratulations are in order for the German, who regardless of his advantages, has capitalised to etch himself into the annals of Formula One history. Well done Seba.
Now that’s over with, let’s be more brutally honest. There’s a good reason why some people, me included are still very lukewarm to the idea of Vettel as a Formula One great. It’s not because I don’t think he’s good enough, but rather because he’s never proved it to me. I’m not saying he won’t one day show me he is a truly skilful driver deserving of a place alongside the likes of Clark, Senna and Fittipaldi, but he’s not shown the signs of being so yet. That sounds odd to say about a man who has won 19 races in 76, but there’s a lot more to it than this.
My first point is rather obvious. Vettel has had the best car for two, maybe even three seasons running now. The Red Bull is an incredibly quick machine thanks to the crazy brains of Adrian Newey and Christian Horner, both of whom deserve unrelenting credit for their contribution to two big championship wins. They have produced a car that is capable of being about half a second quicker than any other on a hot lap, and that sort of advantage for a driver is an absolute dream.
I should point out that the above sentence is an estimate rather than a fact. It’s tricky to say how much the Red Bull’s advantage is down to driver and how much is down to the car, but I find it difficult to believe that Vettel is half a second quicker than the likes of Hamilton and Alonso purely through his own ability. You can accuse me of confirmation bias here but I think we have to be honest. Webber’s a great driver but he’s not particularly fast overall, and even he has found it fairly easy to outpace the others in qualifying.
My second point is that Vettel’s luck this year has been beyond belief. He has managed to dodge every single bit of misfortune that could’ve possibly befallen him. Not one pitstop has gone wrong, not one mechanical problem, not one set of tyres misjudged, not one safety car at the wrong time, not one first corner incident, not one car causing trouble when being overtaken, not one change of weather that didn’t suit him. It’s been absolutely crazy.
This may be down to the fact that Vettel is always leading into the first corner, I suppose, but even Schumacher in the dreary early noughties of F1 had a few mishaps to deal with during races. Vettel’s only struggles have been of his own making, such as when he fell off the track in Canada to allow Button the victory. With this in mind, it would have been absolutely criminal had Vettel not taken the title this season, given his blessings throughout the season.
Now I look upon the above seven paragraphs I must pause. I feel like I’m being overly harsh on a young man who has only taken his every chance in front of him, and seized them with a ferociously clinical style. Perhaps this is a totally pointless speculation when you consider the difficulties in judging the ability of a Formula One driver at any given time. I mean, what do we judge? Is it their ability in the best car? The worst car? At this point in time? Ten seasons ago? How do we do it?
I suppose the fact of the matter is Vettel has probably got the car of his dreams right now, but if we are to take in every attribute of a driver’s ability, then surely being in the right place at the right time is just as valuable? Perhaps Vettel isn’t as quick as Hamilton or Alonso. Maybe he would struggle with either of them as a team-mate, but in any case neither of them had the foresight to place themselves in Red Bull’s hands when it mattered.
Vettel’s patience with the Toro Rosso team is probably what has bought him this huge opportunity to win titles, and he’s taking them. Regardless of speed, judgement and everything else that a Formula One driver requires, if they aren’t putting themselves in the right places at the right times, then they won’t succeed. Schumacher may not have had the legacy he has today where it not for his faith in the Ferrari team. Hamilton would probably not be a former champion if he hadn’t cheekily told Ron Dennis he would drive for McLaren one day.
God, James Hunt probably could’ve given up about 30 times before he’d even made it to Formula One given his struggles in Formula 3000, but he persevered and that was a big part in his championship. We shouldn’t write Vettel off just because he has it easy now. It’s a long journey to get into the winning car, and Vettel has made it. Consequently, he deserves all the opportunities he gets.
Well, that was a strange writing process. There was no editorialising here (I’m too lazy for that shit), I genuinely thought I was going to decry Vettel’s championship merits in this one. But as I came to the halfway point I suddenly realised it was meaningless to him, his team and his supporters to make that case at all. Whether or not he’s up there with Clark, Senna and the rest is totally unimportant. Vettel can only play to his potential and that he is doing.
It’s fun to discuss what drivers would be like competing on a level playing field, and it’s easy to make educated guesses based on whether they overperformed or underperformed in their cars, but this sort of thing is facile when we talk about what a ‘great champion’ is. All you need to be a great champion is to be a champion. If you’ve done that, you deserved it. That’s what the system is there for.
There are great drivers who were never champions, and there were champions that were never great drivers, but the two entities don’t always aim towards the same thing. Maybe Vettel is a great driver. Maybe he isn’t. But he’ll always be a brilliant champion.
No comments:
Post a Comment