McLaren and Ferrari are both there, or there abouts at the moment, but and it's a massive but, Vettel keeps doing well. If I'm honest I think he's out driving his car at the moment so he fully deserves to be where he is in teh championship. I still think it's an interesting season, lots of different drivers up for wins, lots of action and stuff happening every lap, all over the field. Yes the drivers champsionship is almost certainly going to Vettel, but the racing on track has been first class.
Just picture this though. If Vettel crashes out/retires due to car problems and Webber wins, the gap will be back down to 60 points. I know it's not the ideal winner for all of us, but the last few races, drivers have won the race that are not second in the championship, meaning Vettel is slightly pulling away. I still stand by the fact that if Vettel wins this year, it'll be no different to Schumacher winning in 2003/2004 when he won 11 of the 17/18 races. Button only won the first 6 of 7 in 2009 and everyone caught up. Vettel has also won 6 so far, but has been on the podium more than what Button at the same stage of the season in '09, therefore has been more consistent. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/results/default.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/results/2009_results/default.stm Now when I say its the car thats helping Vettel getting the results, just remember the Schumacher/Barrichello days at Ferrari. Ferrari pretty much designed their car around Micheal, leaving Rubens struggling, and Adrain Newey has done the same with Vettel and Webber here
Welcome back nh-f1 AKA F1Mclaren (bit of a mouthful), not seen you in a while Most teams will turn up at Spa with a much modified package from the one we saw in Hungary. The high speed Spa shouldn't suit Red Bull, but we thought Hungary would be a Red Bull white wash and we also though McLaren where no where in Germany... and look what happened there
No different with Lewis and McLaren, he's lighter and shorter, so the car should be designed around him and then edited to suit Button/Webber. Webber even said himself a few years back that they both have very similar driving styles, so it's very unlikely one of them will suffer majorly. It's the tyres/reliability/webber's starts that have made this gap so big, not because the car is designed around seb. If my memory serves me right the RB5 (2009) was designed around Webber more, and for 2010 was more in Sebs favour.
People, me included, sometimes question Vettel's ability vs. that of the car but I wonder if Newey and his team ever make mistakes? It seemed that a suspension upgrade had made the car less competitive in the Hungary practices, hence the curfew-breaking to revert to the old spec. Next year's car isn't guaranteed to be great just because the last few have been.
thanks BLS, i think its about time I got rid of the AKA bit! And yep, your spot on. I heard somewhere that Mclaren brought a few updates to Germany to improve mechanical grip, which made them so fast in the 1st sector. And mechanical grip is something that you want for Hungary as well. Spa and Monza have always suited Mclaren and Ferrari, so should see Vettel out of the top 5!
Are the tables turning on Red Bull? Yes. Its seeming to be very much like 2009 all over again, with one team coming forth to dominate the end of the season... however once again, Im going to take a punt that its too late!
Spot on. while they carry on taking points from each other Vettel is safe. Good luck to him. I support Ferrari, but if you have the car make the most of it.
I dont have links since it was 2 years ago when they spoke of these things. But I did find one quick enough regarding the design of the RB6, from Newey himself. http://www.f1network.net/main/s111/st154085.htm Do the different heights of Sebastian and Mark affect design? The car has to be designed around Mark, which means the cockpit has to be a bit longer than the minimum regulation and the fuel tank has to be moved rearwards slightly because fuel is not allowed to be stored ahead of the driver’s back. Once we’ve done that then fitting the shorter driver in, Sebastian, is relatively easy.
I believe Adrian Newey and his team are already ahead of the other top teams in terms of developing their 2012 car. They also have such a healthy lead that they can almost afford to stand still while the others feverishly try to catch up. Mercedes must be on the point of focussing on next year too, which rather conveniently for Red Bull, leaves Ferrari and McLaren needing to continue to develop this year's car with only a realistic chance of 2nd place in the Constructors' Championship. Like Button of a couple of years ago, Vettel may be taking his foot off the gas a little, but it is similarly difficult to picture the scenario of ultimate failure. All he needs to do is just keep bringing in a handful of points, yet he has continued to stretch his lead!
