How soon can Vettel win 2011 WDC?

[andrew]

My memory is not poor at all. They gave the remaining new wing to the lead driver, or if you prefer, the one that was most likely to win the championship.

And thanks to the clarity and accuracy of my memory, I recall at the time that Red Bull confirmed that the time difference over a race between the wings was negligible. Probably more of a psychological boost to a driver than anything.

Trust me, I will be the first to scream and shout the day Mclaren give development parts to Hamilton, and not to Button

Well we heard it here 1st. I'm ging to hold you to that!

[gridwalker]

Going back to HAM Vs KOV; the year that Hamilton was most clearly favoured with development parts was 2009, when the team was blatantly floundering and were throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the car.

Who would you prefer to drive the team forward? The reigning WDC or the driver he had trounced the previous year?

At that time, desperate times called for desperate measures, so providing the lead driver with No.1 status was justified. The contextual difference between McLaren then and Red Bull now couldn't be more different.

At the moment, Red Bull seem to have a convincing advantage over the whole field, so I see no real need for one driver to be favoured over another ... in fact, I think that Webber should be the one receiving more support, in order to maximise overall team performance whilst Seb is off in a league of his own (though I know it would never work that way).

Right now, I don't think RB are in a position that would justify prioritising either of their drivers in the development race; if it was discovered that they were, the negative PR would be deafening, which runs counter to the purpose of the whole RBR operation.

At the end of the day, I just think that Seb is the faster driver. Even in the early days of his F1 career, Mark was a great qualifier but faded away in the races.

Unfortunately, people will always look for a conspiracy when there is a clear disparity between drivers, but even speculation is premature until we see one driver being ordered to move aside.

As a promotional vehicle for the Red Bull brand (and having dealt with the consequences of perceived favouritism last season), Red Bull would be mad to do anything that might bring the ire of their fans down upon them.

[raymondu999]

So far Vettel is gaining an average of 9.6pt per race, if he continues at this rate, he should be able to seal the WDC in Singapore.

I'm sitting at the Turn 2 Grandstand this year. It would be amazing to see a WDC getting crowned in front of me.

[Giblet]

Considering that last year they team said they were building the team around Vettel, I can only assume the car is better suited to the subtleties of his driving vs Mark's.

I am at odds in my own head for this as there is not much you can do in modern F1 to make a car suit one driver at another's peril, but at the same time the quali advantage has gotten much larger. This was the first race that Vettel even got fastest lap.

[raymondu999]

I don't think they're making the car purposely to spite Webber/make him slower. However I do think that the car is built around Vettel first and foremost. If it benefits Mark too, great. If it doesn't, then... oh well. It makes more sense I guess; Vettel will certainly be around longer in F1 than Mark (due to age)

[ElleMarie]

I don't think they're making the car purposely to spite Webber/make him slower. However I do think that the car is built around Vettel first and foremost.

I think exactly the same, and i think Webber is doing an excellent job for RedBull; he is in the right place to be second driver; hope he will take the team on his shoulders to achieve win when Seb fail to do so.

[raymondu999]

Interesting insight from Peter D. Windsor on the Webber vs Vettel issue: http://www.theracedriver.com/2011/06/eu ... ng-inputs/

[i70q7m7ghw]

At that time, desperate times called for desperate measures, so providing the lead driver with No.1 status was justified. The contextual difference between McLaren then and Red Bull now couldn't be more different.

At the moment, Red Bull seem to have a convincing advantage over the whole field, so I see no real need for one driver to be favoured over another ... in fact, I think that Webber should be the one receiving more support, in order to maximise overall team performance whilst Seb is off in a league of his own (though I know it would never work that way).

Right now, I don't think RB are in a position that would justify prioritising either of their drivers in the development race; if it was discovered that they were, the negative PR would be deafening, which runs counter to the purpose of the whole RBR operation.

[...]

As a promotional vehicle for the Red Bull brand (and having dealt with the consequences of perceived favouritism last season), Red Bull would be mad to do anything that might bring the ire of their fans down upon them.

I do agree with you in some respects. It would be damaging to the Red Bull brand for the team to back only one driver and purposefully set the other driver back. But look at what happened last year, they took alot of heat and if anything they were giving the drivers equal treatment.

It is just odd that all of a sudden this year, they no longer have to worry about the whole 'drivers with equal status' problem because they only have one driver on the pace.

[CHT]

I do agree with you in some respects. It would be damaging to the Red Bull brand for the team to back only one driver and purposefully set the other driver back. But look at what happened last year, they took alot of heat and if anything they were giving the drivers equal treatment.

It is just odd that all of a sudden this year, they no longer have to worry about the whole 'drivers with equal status' problem because they only have one driver on the pace.

it cant be as bad as lie-gate and spy-gate scandal or Ferrari style outright team order over the radio.

[ParanoiD]

So far Vettel is gaining an average of 9.6pt per race, if he continues at this rate, he should be able to seal the WDC in Singapore.

I'm sitting at the Turn 2 Grandstand this year. It would be amazing to see a WDC getting crowned in front of me.

I will be there as well.
It's my 1st GP and would be special with Vettel securing the WDC

[raymondu999]

Awesome! Are you in T2 GS as well?

[jamsbong]

Interesting insight from Peter D. Windsor on the Webber vs Vettel issue: http://www.theracedriver.com/2011/06/eu ... ng-inputs/

adding to that, I was listening to the FOTA forum where the fans asked questions to the Mclaren, RedBull and Renault engineers. Thats on james allen on F1 website, btw. There was one insight about driver's confidence. Looking at the telemetry, it can be easily seen that the driver with less confidence makes a tiny mistake on one corner. This small mistake actually ripples out into a chain reaction and the whole lap is ruined with a 0.2 or more second slower. In quali, that means 3 to 4 places down.

That brings me to the point about Vettel. He seems to have 100% confidence with the behaviour of the tyres. So thats why he is able to grab pole consistently and with a large margin. Reminds me of Hakkinen, when he was winning races. He had the confidence to push the car to the limit and thus he was simply unstoppable.

[raymondu999]

To be fair I don't think the "ripple" was in a driver's confidence. What I got from that video was a mistake in a corner means less speed carried through the apex/exit, and such into the following straight.

[jamsbong]

To be fair I don't think the "ripple" was in a driver's confidence. What I got from that video was a mistake in a corner means less speed carried through the apex/exit, and such into the following straight.

You're right. Small bit of mistake can be quite punishing.

[ringo]

He wont win ....