Are we seeing a Vettel era?

[RB7ate9]

Perhaps RB7 is just more efficient as an aero device than the others in clean air vettel qualifies ahead and has no trouble with having to overtake people. Webber gets, say 3rd, and has one of his starts and drops to 5th by turn 2. Then the he is in dirty air where the car is particularly inefficient and struggles as a result. Of course vettel is still an incredible driver.

I agree with this line of thinking.

[raymondu999]

I found it rather telling that most people; such as Lewis; could slingshot past quite a few people with DRS open and be back in line for the braking zone; while Webber couldn't touch Fernando with DRS.

[CHT]

I found it rather telling that most people; such as Lewis; could slingshot past quite a few people with DRS open and be back in line for the braking zone; while Webber couldn't touch Fernando with DRS.

Maybe the DRS effect on RB7 rear wing is not as big as the Mclaren. like what happen over at Monza.

[raymondu999]

The chord lengths and flap sizes were rather similar; I think maybe it's more of gearing.

[RB7ate9]

I found it rather telling that most people; such as Lewis; could slingshot past quite a few people with DRS open and be back in line for the braking zone; while Webber couldn't touch Fernando with DRS.

Fernando in the Ferrari F150 is different than Perez in a Sauber, Sutil in a FI, or even Nico in a Mercedes. But besides that, Mark stated some DRS issues in the first laps of the race. Also, the RB7 has been known to have less raw power than the others. Just a Webber fanboy steppin' up for his driver.

[raymondu999]

I wasn't saying about Webber. I was talking about how apparent it was that the Red Bull in traffic is not the clean-air monster it is

[RB7ate9]

I wasn't saying about Webber. I was talking about how apparent it was that the Red Bull in traffic is not the clean-air monster it is

Ah, I see. Then I agree, absolutely. It might have been a major strategic design move by Horner and Newey. They know Vettel has got great qualifying speed, so they capitalized on that talent, banking on it, to put him out ahead of everyone else. We'll never really know, since there's no way that Newey or Horner would admit it - if it were true.

[MIKEY_!]

The chord lengths and flap sizes were rather similar; I think maybe it's more of gearing.

AoA could be playing a role too, but then i haven't taken a close look at the wings.

[dren]

Webber seemed to be better matched last year in qualifying when there wasn't a DRS flap to be messed with. Also, the tires were different.

[MIKEY_!]

Personally i think it was the tires. He said at one point that as the tires were being modified to be more durable they were 'playing right into his hands' or something to that effect. he probably also said 'mate' at the end

[raymondu999]

I agree that tyres are probably the primary reason. Some say EBD; but Seb didn't do too badly in early 2010

[MIKEY_!]

And the car was likely designed more around Seb than webber compared to the last one. But then thats been said here about a million times. Can that even make much difference?

[raymondu999]

It probably is. I mean, would you rather invest in the young hot shoot who will be with you for the foreseeable future, or the guy who's about to retire? It's only logical.

Having said that, they frequently share setups and copy each other's setups; which probably means they have similar requirements on what they want the car to do; so I don't think that has done much difference to be honest. While I do believe they have different driving styles, I don't believe that they have different "requirements" from the car, if you get what I'm saying.

[MIKEY_!]

It probably is. I mean, would you rather invest in the young hot shoot who will be with you for the foreseeable future, or the guy who's about to retire? It's only logical.

Exactly, I know what you mean.

[raymondu999]

It's a very cynical/EJ view of the world, but sad to say, sometimes the EJ view IS the pragmatic view that works in life