We go on the trail of the red riddle. It is the question that perhaps even Sebastian Vettel 33 asks himself in moments of doubt. Has he lost the ability to drive extremely fast?
Has he found his master in his team-mate Charles Leclerc? Or are there still differences between the two Ferrari cars in Formula 1? More to read: Vettel in a tight spot. The pure numbers speak clearly for Leclerc. The Monegasque was able to win the qualifying duel with in the 13 races in that have been driven so far. The only odd thing is that the German still had the lead with after the first three GPs. However: That the aging process of the German suddenly started after the third GP in Silverstone is considered rather improbable.
But it is a fact that Leclerc was able to drive the Ferrari regularly at the limit ever since, while Vettel had to struggle more and more with a particularly stubborn rear axle.
Result: Vettel is regularly about half a second slower per lap in qualifying than his team-mate from Monaco. Log in. Formula 1. Modified 07 Oct Pirelli tyres After a dull Bahrain Grand Prix, Formula 1 organisers were forced to think how to bring the same sort of excitement present during the refuelling era.
And their solution lied in the only thing of a car that makes contact with the circuit — tyres. More pit stops meant more exciting races and Pirelli have been fairly successful in this respect. However, the new fragile tyres turned out to be a disadvantage for aggressive drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber, while some drivers like Sebastian Vettel adapted their driving style to make most of the regulation change.
A driver needs to find a way of not overusing the tyres when he takes the corner, when he accelerates out of the corner, etc. Vettel seems to have found an optimal way of managing his tyres, which is evident from his long yet quick first stints, particularly in the last few races.
Aerodynamics era While Red Bull might have won their first championship in , their actual transformation from a midfield runner to a top gun started in with the incoming of new technical regulations. People fail to understand the effort he has put in to adapt to the regulations and to make most of it.
Race strategy As we all know, Sebastian Vettel follows a particular technique in a race that helps him to manage his tyres and stay away from DRS zone of his rivals. He prefers to start the race from pole position, build a five second gap up front and cruise to victory on the conventional strategy.
But instead of fighting it out with the latter and graining his tyres, he maintained a four-five second gap around the Australian.
That allowed him to extend his first stint and complete the race on a two stop strategy which ultimately proved out to be the better way to complete 53 laps around the Suzuka circuit. Cornering technique Vettel has developed a particular cornering technique that helps him to gain vital advantage over his teammate.
Qualifying Strength Sebastian Vettel along with Lewis Hamilton are arguably the two best drivers when it comes to single lap pace.
F1: The deepening crisis of Sebastian Vettel. Top 5 drivers with the most points in a Formula 1 season. Edited by Staff Editor. Sort by: Most popular Recent Most upvotes. Login to post your comment. Show More Comments. No thanks Delete. Cancel Update. Login to reply. Cancel Reply. Contact Us. GDPR Compliance. Writer Awards. How can that be blamed on machinery or technical brilliance, when they both drive the same car? But that is to digress. Back to Singapore, where in practice Vettel was considerably faster than anyone else on the Friday long runs, and was a full second ahead of anyone on the qualifying simulation runs on Saturday morning.
In qualifying, while everyone else does two runs on two sets of brand new super-soft tyres, Vettel hangs back in his garage after just one flying lap. He hangs on to pole just , but is still clear of his teammate, who later admits that the German was untouchable. Vettel opens up a second lead, but he's cruising after the first pitstop. It's all under control. A perfectly-judged restart sets him on his way, and with fuel now less of an issue, he gets the call to push and—for the first time this year — we see Vettel flex his muscles.
Even when Rosberg, delayed by rubber in his front wing, was out of the picture, Vettel was still a crushing two seconds a lap quicker than any other driver. He went on to win by a dominant 30s-plus margin, one of the largest in modern F1 history and totally unprecedented in a dry race that had a safety car at half-distance. That win was made possible by him driving the best car, of that there is no arguing. Equally, you may have no quarrels with the point that it was the best car being driven by a supreme racing talent.
He managed the car when he needed to, he did everything right and when he was free to turn up the wick, he did so in devastating fashion. As they do this, Vettel capitalises. Kimi Raikkonen should have been world champion in , driving the quickest car on the grid, but it was too unreliable.
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