I reckon Webber did get screwed over for not listening to teams orders AGAIN! Seems Mark has developed a slight problem against Seb, he isn't in this title race anymore when Seb was behind him that time and he should of just let Seb past and he would of likely finished 5th instead of DNF... He should of let Seb through and maybe he wouldn't of been shafted over by the pits having their hand forced, got what he deserved!
Exactly, the only way you could say this was down to skill was by Vettel driving into cars and signposts in the first place.
Absolutely cracking drive by him. Certainly not as easy as some make out. Great drive, great work by the team on helping him get back up there. You really can't knock him.
I'd say that Vettel is really starting to flourish... He's got so many years ahead of him too. It makes you wonder how good he's actually going to become.
Few people said it was luck when Jenson won Canada 11'... Barely anybody said Alonso was lucky at Valencia this season.... BUT OOOOOOOOOOOOOH! When Seb does the same thing we start to **** all over it now do we? Ok! now it's game on the next time when one of your boys get "lucky"
Yeah... really nice to see Kimi up there, though I do feel really sorry for him......... No booze on the podium!!!
http://f1stats.blog.com/2012/11/04/sebastian-vettel-21-on-track-overtakes/ ----- Sebastian Vettel: 21 on-track overtakes Who would have thought that two of the most exciting races of 2012 would be Valencia and Abu Dhabi. With Sebastian Vettel starting from the pitlane after fuel issues in qualifying (which sent him to the back of the grid, but Red Bull decided to change set-up, so pitlane start), there was bound to be some fireworks, but with crashes left and right, safety cars and Vettel slicing through the field, this was more than we could have hoped for! However, amidst all the chaos, some people lost track of what happened and questioned if Vettel’s performance (pitlane start to 3rd place) was more luck than skill. Here’s why Vettel deserves all the praise he gets. After de la Rosa had problems on the grid, he started behind Vettel in the pitlane. With 2 cars out in turn 1, this means Vettel was 21st when he emerged from the pitlane to chase down the field. By lap 8, he was in 13th position, having overtaken 8 cars on track, before the safety car came out. Behind the first safety car, a hard braking Ricciardo caused Vettel to return to the pitlane for a new front wing. When the safety car went in, he was 21st behind Paul di Resta. When Hamilton retired 5 laps later, Vettel was 12th, having overtaken 8 cars on track, and Grosjean twice (Vettel let him pass after uncertainty about the first overtake). He overtook 3 more cars and took p8 when Kobayashi pitted, and p7 after Massa spun. When Alonso, Maldonado, Webber, Button, Perez and pitted in the next few laps, Vettel was 2nd. Pitting in lap 36, Alonso and Button passed him again, before the safety car came out again when Perez, Webber and Grosjean came together. This closed the 10 second gap between Vettel and Button. In lap 52, Vettel overtook Button as well to take a 3rd place finish after starting from the back of the field twice. So while it may seem to some like Vettel’s race today was aided by safety cars and other drivers tumbling over each other, most of that actually happened behind him. Having to pit, ruining your tire strategy and fall back 8 places with the first safety car can hardly be considered luck, and by the time of the second safety car, he had already made his second pit stop and was in 4th place. This only leaves the question, could Vettel have taken 3rd from Button if not for the second safety car? Well, let’s see: in the 5 laps Vettel was in clean air (2 before the SC, and the final 3 laps), he was little over 1 second faster than Button. It took Vettel 8 laps to overtake Button. Counting back 8 laps, this means he would have had to be on Button’s tail by lap 47. The only argument that could still be made, is whether or not he could have caught Button without the safety car, but with 9 extra laps and being +1 second faster than Button in clean air, it’s safe to assume he could have gotten him. The safety car came out in lap 38, so Vettel would have had 9 laps to close the 10 second gap to Button. A judgement call I’ll leave for you to make. Start: p21 (3 cars out at start) Lap 8: p13 (8 overtakes) Lap 8: SAFETY CAR Lap 14: p21 Lap 19: p12 (9 overtakes, gifted Hamilton’s spot, overtook Grosjean twice) Lap 25: p8 (3 overtakes, Kobayashi pits) Lap 28: p7 (Massa spun) Lap 31: p2 (Alonso, Maldonado, Webber, Button, Perez pit) Lap 36: p4 (pitstop lets Alonso and Button pass) Lap 38: SAFETY CAR (Vettel gains 10 seconds to Button) Lap 44: SAFETY CAR in Lap 52: overtake on Button -----
Well done to Kimi! He has deserved that top spot for a while now and drove brilliantly today. Also, personally very happy to see Alonso on the podium once again, but I have to give credit where credit is due. Despite a fair amount of luck Vettel drove a storming drive to 3rd, and proved me wrong as I didn't think he would be able to bring the car all the way up that far into the points let alone the podium. Gotta give props to Kamui for bringing the Sauber in 6th, another good points haul and performance, where as Perez seems to be going off the rails a bit
Of course it was luck, just the same as Lewis hitting the barrier in Monaco and having to pit as the rain starts. The luck isn't the issue, it's when half the field drive into each other and make it far easier than It should be. Some fans feel it is unnecessarily fortunate, especially when most want the championship to go to the wire. Vettle did what he had to do, in a very fast car with a strategy that played to perfection, he could arguably have won if he had cleared JB quicker!
Without safety cars Vettel would have been nowhere near a podium. Twice it backed up all the drivers for him , allowing his gearbox-changed long ratio-inspired drive from the pitlane. Everything fell for him during the race, HOWEVER, he also made the most of those chances and capitalised on these pieces of luck. With a car that he knew had good straightline speed, comign bfrom the back on fresh tyres was never an issue to him, and as he did that and others pitted he moved up the order. So good strategy, and yes a good bit of luck, but some well timed and determined overtakes put him up to 3rd. All in all a great driver. BUT Bruno Senna. Punted off at the first corner, and finished 8th. Anyone reckon this was down to pure driving skill!? or maybe help from the safety cars to bunch the field up also allowed him to gain track position when it mattered? Of course, sorry, Vettel pure skill, Senna pure luck. Get a grip, this is not606 thesedays.........
So he overtook all the cart horses twice whilst much quicker cars were out of position! With a car geared for overtaking, sort of defeats the object of getting a penalty IMO! Might as well have a quali car an a race car! Obviously Mclaren missed a trick in Spain, or were they just operating within the sporting spirit of the rules?
And if "luck" was on Sebs side into qualifying he would of won the race, Webber would of still had a **** start and Seb would of been right behind Lewis to take the lead when his car gave up.
Yes Seb was lucky with the 2 safey cars, but he was also unlucky to have the fuel issue on Saturday and unlucky having to change the front wing. So it evens out I'd say.
Overtakes a Lotus twice....which won the race! He overtook Jenson....which was in a class of it's own and got pole! The Williams, Ferrari's and Saubers were no slouches on race pace either...
Funny, when McLaren didn't fuel Hamilton's car in Spain, you didn't refer to it as luck, you called it 'Cheating'.
