I think Vettel has mastered the Pirelli tyres...

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PlatinumZealot
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Joined: 12 Jun 2008, 03:45

I think Vettel has mastered the Pirelli tyres...

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Just really look back on it. Sitting on pole and pulling out ahead and never to be threatened gives you lots of free time - and what do you do with that free time? You turn the knobs, press the buttons, play around with different techniques, talk to the engineers... Essentially learning the car in an open undiluted environment at every point of the race. Over those times, I believe Vettel has mastered the tyres.

It has dawned on just now. Looking back on India, no matter what Jenson "tyre whisperer" Button tried, Vettel could always keep that 5 second gap up mid stint - no worries no hitches, just 100% controlled pace till the end of the race. I really believe he has mastered the tyres, even Better than Button I might add.
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raymondu999
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Re: I think Vettel has mastered the Pirelli tyres...

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To be fair n_smikle; Vettel's times were dropping a lot more than Button's at the final few laps of the 2nd stint in India. Button was suddenly slashing some 7 tenths a lap out of Vettel. It's also easier to have pace; and also easier to nurse tyres; when you're in clear air. Though to be fair with 4-5 seconds of a relatively constant gap; Button was in clean air too

But yes I agree that Vettel has mastered the Pirellis very comprehensively - both in terms of performance and in terms of conservation. Paul Hembery has also said several times this year about how Vettel was the only person to go to Pirelli over the winter (after Pirelli invited the drivers and teams to come over). Vettel he says has been the one who has discussed the Pirellis the most in terms of working with Pirelli engineers over breaks and between FP sessions. He says that only Schumacher hs even come close to clocking in Vettel's hours of discussion with Pirelli engineers
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beelsebob
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Re: I think Vettel has mastered the Pirelli tyres...

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n smikle wrote:Just really look back on it. Sitting on pole and pulling out ahead and never to be threatened gives you lots of free time - and what do you do with that free time? You turn the knobs, press the buttons, play around with different techniques, talk to the engineers... Essentially learning the car in an open undiluted environment at every point of the race. Over those times, I believe Vettel has mastered the tyres.

It has dawned on just now. Looking back on India, no matter what Jenson "tyre whisperer" Button tried, Vettel could always keep that 5 second gap up mid stint - no worries no hitches, just 100% controlled pace till the end of the race. I really believe he has mastered the tyres, even Better than Button I might add.
Vettel is certainly one of the best on the current tyres, but Vettel did comment after the race that always just before the pit stops Button was reeling him in, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it, because Button had looked after the tyres better.

Belatti
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Re: I think Vettel has mastered the Pirelli tyres...

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raymondu999 wrote: He says that only Schumacher hs even come close to clocking in Vettel's hours of discussion with Pirelli engineers
I cant understand how, being a formula 1 driver, you cant do what vettel has done :?

Its obvious that you have to work as close as posible with the tyre makers, the prove was the Schumacher-Bridgetone era and its results.
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raymondu999
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Re: I think Vettel has mastered the Pirelli tyres...

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beelsebob wrote:Vettel is certainly one of the best on the current tyres, but Vettel did comment after the race that always just before the pit stops Button was reeling him in, and there was absolutely nothing he could do about it, because Button had looked after the tyres better.
Slight correction beelsebob - Vettel was losing over in/outlaps rather than stint ends - Button would pit 4 seconds behind; Vettel pits the next lap; and then would come out 2.5seconds in front of Button.

I still agree with Mark Hughes on this issue - with the Pirellis this year it's catch 22. You're damned if you do; damned if you don't. The faster you go in the corners the more degradation you have. The RB7's strength is in corners and the extra speed it carries through corners would help to degrade the tyres more.
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Jersey Tom
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Re: I think Vettel has mastered the Pirelli tyres...

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Pirelli hasn't even mastered the Pirelli tires.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
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Belatti
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Re: I think Vettel has mastered the Pirelli tyres...

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Jersey Tom wrote:Pirelli hasn't even mastered the Pirelli tires.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
I think the word "mastered", in this case, specifically means that he understand the tyres more than his rivals.

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ESPImperium
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Re: I think Vettel has mastered the Pirelli tyres...

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Vettel has got that understanding, but he is just one stage above most, Button and Alonso are the closest to him.

I think Vettel and his engineering team has understood the need for the tires to be
switched on for Q3 for that vital lap, gety pole, then use that to draw away in the first lap, or at leat the first 2 till he breaks the DRS toe, then he builds on that for the first 10% of the race, then he goes int Management mode for the rest of the distance.

He may not have mastered the Pirellis, he has just understood what he needs to do and when to get to the black and white checqured thing quickest.

There is one flaw with this, and it leaves him open in those mixed condition races, as his strategy is based arround dry conditions more than the rest, and has less marjin for error in those races than a Button or Hamilton.

The one thing Vettel has mastered this year are his starts, he has only had one semi crap one all year, and the rest have all had at leat 2 or 3 fully crap ones all year. This is something that i feel has had more of an impact on his driving all year, as look at the races he started poorly last year, he was a wreck for the remainder of that race. This he has supremly pulled away and then more or less dominated every race from then on. Only weather or a driver in a car thats just faster arround that track has beaten him, like Alonso at Silverstone and Button in Japan for those dry races.

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