I wouldn't be so sure, they're looking pretty damn close at the moment and the Mercedes didn't exactly look like they were going slowly.
It just shows how desperate Sky/BBC are to make a story out of it as the season is already a 2 driver show. Every single time Daniel goes faster (in practice) it gets blown out of proportion and that "Vettel is struggling and under pressure, he is also looking more unsettled from the on board". FP2 he was faster than Daniel and slightly faster before the traffic in the final sector in this practice session (on both tyres) and not a single whisper on it lol.
[TABLE="width: 50%"] [TR] [TD="bgcolor: #FFCC00, align: center"]Cla [/TD] [TD="bgcolor: #404040, align: center"] Nº [/TD] [TD="bgcolor: #404040, align: left"] Driver [/TD] [TD="bgcolor: #404040, align: left"] Car / Engine [/TD] [TD="bgcolor: #404040, align: center"] Time [/TD] [TD="bgcolor: #404040, align: right"] Delay [/TD] [TD="bgcolor: #404040, align: right"] Laps [/TD] [TD="bgcolor: #404040, align: right"] km/h [/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: right"]1 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]44 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Lewis Hamilton[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Mercedes[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'16.758[/TD] [TD="align: right"][/TD] [TD="align: right"]27[/TD] [TD="align: right"]156.648[/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"] [TD="align: right"]2 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]3 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Daniel Ricciardo[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Red Bull/Renault[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'16.808[/TD] [TD="align: right"]0.050[/TD] [TD="align: right"]26[/TD] [TD="align: right"]156.546[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: right"]3 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]6 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Nico Rosberg[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Mercedes[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'16.874[/TD] [TD="align: right"]0.116[/TD] [TD="align: right"]24[/TD] [TD="align: right"]156.411[/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"] [TD="align: right"]4 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]1 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Sebastian Vettel[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Red Bull/Renault[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'17.184[/TD] [TD="align: right"]0.426[/TD] [TD="align: right"]23[/TD] [TD="align: right"]155.783[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: right"]5 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]14 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Fernando Alonso[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Ferrari[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'17.428[/TD] [TD="align: right"]0.670[/TD] [TD="align: right"]22[/TD] [TD="align: right"]155.292[/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"] [TD="align: right"]6 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]7 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Kimi Räikkönen[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Ferrari[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'17.448[/TD] [TD="align: right"]0.690[/TD] [TD="align: right"]24[/TD] [TD="align: right"]155.252[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: right"]7 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]11 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Sergio Pérez[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Force India/Mercedes[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'17.725[/TD] [TD="align: right"]0.967[/TD] [TD="align: right"]23[/TD] [TD="align: right"]154.699[/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"] [TD="align: right"]8 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]27 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Nico Hülkenberg[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Force India/Mercedes[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'18.074[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1.316[/TD] [TD="align: right"]21[/TD] [TD="align: right"]154.007[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: right"]9 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]25 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Jean-Ãric Vergne[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Toro Rosso/Renault[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'18.136[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1.378[/TD] [TD="align: right"]19[/TD] [TD="align: right"]153.885[/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"] [TD="align: right"]10 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]26 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Daniil Kvyat[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Toro Rosso/Renault[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'18.166[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1.408[/TD] [TD="align: right"]26[/TD] [TD="align: right"]153.826[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: right"]11 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]20 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Kevin Magnussen[/TD] [TD="align: left"]McLaren/Mercedes[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'18.249[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1.491[/TD] [TD="align: right"]28[/TD] [TD="align: right"]153.663[/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"] [TD="align: right"]12 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]22 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Jenson Button[/TD] [TD="align: left"]McLaren/Mercedes[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'18.262[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1.504[/TD] [TD="align: right"]21[/TD] [TD="align: right"]153.637[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: right"]13 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]77 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Valtteri Bottas[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Williams/Mercedes[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'18.430[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1.672[/TD] [TD="align: right"]31[/TD] [TD="align: right"]153.308[/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"] [TD="align: right"]14 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]19 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Felipe Massa[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Williams/Mercedes[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'18.542[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1.784[/TD] [TD="align: right"]30[/TD] [TD="align: right"]153.090[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: right"]15 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]99 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Adrian Sutil[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Sauber/Ferrari[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'18.598[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1.840[/TD] [TD="align: right"]24[/TD] [TD="align: right"]152.980[/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"] [TD="align: right"]16 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]8 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Romain Grosjean[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Lotus/Renault[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'18.776[/TD] [TD="align: right"]2.018[/TD] [TD="align: right"]26[/TD] [TD="align: right"]152.635[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: right"]17 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]17 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Jules Bianchi[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Marussia/Ferrari[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'18.872[/TD] [TD="align: right"]2.114[/TD] [TD="align: right"]23[/TD] [TD="align: right"]152.449[/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"] [TD="align: right"]18 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]13 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Pastor Maldonado[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Lotus/Renault[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'19.118[/TD] [TD="align: right"]2.360[/TD] [TD="align: right"]28[/TD] [TD="align: right"]151.975[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: right"]19 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]21 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]E.Gutiérrez[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Sauber/Ferrari[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'19.149[/TD] [TD="align: right"]2.391[/TD] [TD="align: right"]28[/TD] [TD="align: right"]151.916[/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"] [TD="align: right"]20 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]10 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Kamui Kobayashi[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Caterham/Renault[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'20.271[/TD] [TD="align: right"]3.513[/TD] [TD="align: right"]32[/TD] [TD="align: right"]149.792[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD="align: right"]21 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]4 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Max Chilton[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Marussia/Ferrari[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'20.394[/TD] [TD="align: right"]3.636[/TD] [TD="align: right"]25[/TD] [TD="align: right"]149.563[/TD] [/TR] [TR="bgcolor: #F0F0F0"] [TD="align: right"]22 [/TD] [TD="align: right"]9 [/TD] [TD="align: left"]Marcus Ericsson[/TD] [TD="align: left"]Caterham/Renault[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1'20.589[/TD] [TD="align: right"]3.831[/TD] [TD="align: right"]30[/TD] [TD="align: right"]149.201[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]
Silver I don't see why you are so hard on SKY/BBC...Vettel is the four times world champion and was in red bulls for years, Ricciardo is into his sixth race with the team...it was expected that Vettel was going to wipe the floor with him and it hasn't happened up to now ...in fact he has been generally faster than Vettel so I could understand the excitement.
Ricciardo has been involved with Red Bull testing wise for over 3 years ever since he joined F1, he has done young driver tests, simulator runs and end of season testings in a Red Bull so he has had plenty of time to adjust even before he joined Red Bull this year. So far the only time Daniel has been faster than Vettel (on merit) has been at China, every other time it's only been because Vettel had been driving a broken car making Daniels performances look better than they are when Vettel's car has been limping over the line... Australia, car failure in qualifying and race. But yet the media like to make it a Daniel victory even with illegal fuel flow. Bahrain, waste gate failure in qualifying and MGU-K issues at the end right after the SC helped Daniel close a 9 second gap and leave Vettel a sitting duck for free. Yet again the media make it out something different. Spain, well we all know what happend there... And again, Daniel is declared the victor. And yet the media, like the classic trolls they are....forget these pretty significant variables and like to make their own stories up like "Rosberg being more intelligent than Hamilton" for example.
This is going to be tight . .. hold on to your hats. Just seen Kimi struggle to get through the gate. Poor guy.