Sebastian Vettel |
|
|---|---|
| Beat team mate in qualifying | 15/19 |
| Beat team mate in race | 10/14 |
| Races finished | 18/19 |
| Laps spent ahead of team mate | 718/963 |
| Points | 278 |
| Sebastian Vettel 2015 form guide | |
Sebastian Vettel’s 2015 season was not the first time he proved his abilities in something less than the most competitive car in the field, but his efforts bear comparison with his most emphatic championship triumphs. He was fast out of the box, he was tenacious, and when Mercedes stumbled he pounced – not once, but thrice.
Of course it helped matters that this year’s Ferrari was much more capable than its predecessor. But still Vettel walked into a new team and blew the doors off the world champion in the other car.
Early in the season it seemed Kimi Raikkonen might have something for Vettel in terms of outright race pace – notably at Bahrain, where Vettel was scruffy, and China, where Raikkonen hunted him down. But these soon proved exceptions to the rule.
Right from the off at Melbourne Vettel was on the podium. It’s especially telling that on a total of nine occasions when both the Mercedes drivers were on the rostrum, Vettel was alongside them. But for a slow pit stop in Austria it would have been ten.
In Malaysia, improbably, he was ahead of both. Mercedes made the questionable decision to pit under the Safety Car, showing Vettel clear air into which he proceeded to sprint off. A pair of healthy Mercedes beaten on his second race weekend in red? Surely even the most optimistic Ferraristi couldn’t have dreamt of such an outcome.
He kept Lewis Hamilton bottled up for much of the way in Spain, until Mercedes were able to use an alternative strategy to jump him. But at Monaco Vettel was close enough to profit from another Mercedes mistake to split the pair.
Despite an MGU-H fault during qualifying in Canada Vettel came within a tenth of a second of getting his car into Q2. He then raced from the back of the field to finish on Raikkonen’s tail. It was one of several days when the four-times champion put his fellow champion team mate in the shade. At Silverstone when the rain fell Vettel simply drove past Raikkonen and motored on to the podium.
He went into the summer break on a high after a commanding win in Hungary as the Mercedes drivers self-destructed. That left him 21 points off Rosberg in the championship and 42 down on Hamilton – a strong performance given the relative strengths of their cars. It also explains partly why he was so livid about his tyre failure in Belgium – there went another podium finish and 15 points.
Singapore was his last realistic chance of winning a race and he was on a mission from the word go. A scintillating pole position lap put him on top by over half a second, and three-quarters of a second up on his team mate.
A mystifying performance in Mexico was the low point of his season. But in Brazil he was again close enough to Mercedes to keep them on their toes, and in Abu Dhabi he again bounced back from a Q1 exit to finish right behind Raikkonen.
Ferrari undoubtedly raised their game in 2015 but how much of that was down to one of their drivers? Raikkonen’s SF-15T only narrowly beat the Williams pair, but in Vettel’s it often matched the Mercedes – and sometimes beat them. That’s why he was the driver of the year.
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View race-by-race notes on Sebastian Vettel
Australia – Vettel’s first race for Ferrari went about as well as he could have hoped. After chiding himself for not taking third place on the grid when it was in the offing, he took it off Massa in the race by pitting three laps later than the Williams and dropping his lap time by around eight-tenths of a second despite the age of his tyres.
Malaysia – Exclaimed “not again” when he missed out on pole position to Hamilton by less than a tenth of a second, as he also had done last year. But he was clearly pleased with the Ferrari’s performance, and better was to come in the race. He rebuffed Rosberg at the start, inherited the lead during the Safety Car period when the Mercedes drivers pitted, but picked off both of them after his first pit stop. That put him in position to clinch his first victory for Ferrari at his second attempt.
China – Three races, three podiums for Ferrari’s newest driver. Was consistently quicker than Raikkonen all weekend and ran third the entire race, behind the Mercedes. Tried to put Rosberg under pressure in the middle stint, but the way that Mercedes pulled away after the final stops suggested challenging for the win was never really a possibility for Vettel in China.
Bahrain – Showed his potential in final practice and delivered on it by splitting the two Mercedes in qualifying, lining up on the front row. However he wasn’t able to keep Rosberg behind in the race – being passed three times – and was forced to make an extra pit stop after going off and damaging his front wing. That dropped him behind Bottas, where he finished.
Spain – Took third on the grid in the upgraded Ferrari, albeit more than three-quarters of a second off Rosberg’s pole position time. Ran in front of Hamilton for the first half of the race but when Mercedes put their man on a three-stop strategy Ferrari stuck to their guns and Vettel, perhaps inevitably, lost his hold on second place.
Monaco – Quickest in final practice but when Mercedes got their act together in qualifying the full scale of Ferrari’s deficit to the silver cars at this track was revealed. Nonetheless he took third once again, and fought hard to try to separate the Mercedes drivers at the start. He had to settle for third, but stayed close enough to Rosberg to be able to take advantage when it all went wrong for Hamilton.
Canada – Power unit trouble was an inconvenience in practice – and a major problem in qualifying, where it put him out in Q1. Then it transpired he had overtaken Merhi under red flags in practice, incurring a five-place penalty which left him 18th. Made an early pit stop at the end of lap seven but a slow tyre change cost him more time, as did a contretemps with Alonso at the chicane. But he kept picking off his rivals and strong pace after his second pit stop brought him up to fifth place behind his team mate.
Austria – Quickest on Friday by little more than a hundredth of a second, but twice had to stop with transmission-related problems. Fastest again on Saturday morning, but didn’t have the one-lap pace to split the Mercedes, although he would have been quicker had he also not been unable to use DRS. Didn’t have the pace to attack Mercedes at the start of the race on super-softs, but was quicker on softs in the second half of the race. However by then a slow right-rear tyre change had dropped him to fourth behind Massa, where he finished.
Britain – Was held up by Massa during his final out-lap in Q3, which may have affected his tyre preparation, then had “a really bad start” from sixth on the grid. It got worse at the restart where he fell behind Perez, though he took that place back on lap nine. An early first pit stop got him in front of Kvyat and Hulkenberg, and when it started to rain he passed Raikkonen. Significantly quicker than the Williams drivers at this point, a well-timed pit stop got him ahead of them for a podium which had looked unlikely earlier in the race.
Hungary – Didn’t seem to quite have a match for Raikkonen’s pace in practice but led the way for the team in qualifying to take an increasingly familiar third place on the grid. A superb start put him in the lead from where he used Ferrari’s soft tyre pace to great effect – Raikkonen was ten seconds behind even when his car was still healthy. The Safety Car period was exactly what he didn’t need but his nearest rivals mostly took themselves out of contention as he grabbed his second victory of the season.
Belgium – Failed to improve on his Q2 time in the final session leaving him a sub-par eighth on the grid. However he started well and was up to fifth after passing Bottas on lap two. Staying out on medium tyres after making a single pit stop on lap 15 was undoubtedly a gamble, but one he might have expected would lead to a significant loss of pace at the end of the race, rather than an alarming high-speed tyre failure.
Italy – Was pipped to second on the grid by Raikkonen by a few hundredths of a second, but easily took the place at the start and ran there until the finish. He might have had a more difficult time had Rosberg’s engine not failed, however.
Singapore – This looked like 2011 or late-2013 era Vettel: car fully underneath him, he blitzed pole position by over half a second with a second run which he later admitted wasn’t really necessary. The parallels continued into the start of the race, where he immediately drew three seconds clear at the start. That performance advantage was clearly only temporary, however, but the two Safety Cars afforded him protection and gave him the chance to control the pace of the race, sparing his tyres.
Japan – Moved up from fourth to second at the start and probably had the pace to hold onto the position. Ferrari instructed him to keep Rosberg two seconds behind which he did, but the Mercedes driver was still able to jump ahead by pitting early.
Russia – Was clearly quicker than Raikkonen early in the race, and after getting past he jumped Bottas through the pit stops with little difficulty. He did his best to chase Hamilton, setting the fastest lap as he did, but his pursuit always looked to be in vain.
United States – Relegated to 13th on the grid by an engine change penalty, Vettel started superbly to take seventh, then soon passed Hulkenberg. Made an early switch to slicks which got him ahead of Perez, motored past the Red Bulls with little difficulty, and initially gambled on a long final stint on medium tyres which could have worked out very well had there been no further Safety Cars. But there was, and although he took the opportunity to put new softs on later, he narrowly failed to demote Rosberg for second.
Mexico – Was within two-tenths of Hamilton in qualifying and believed he could have been closer. His race was a nightmare, however: first-corner contact with Ricciardo gave him a puncture, after which he spun twice. “The last one obviously ended my race and I am not proud of it,” he confessed afterwards.
Brazil – Said there was only a few hundredths of a second left in his car after Q3, while the gap to Mercedes was a yawning half-second around one of the shortest tracks of the year. However in the race Vettel’s pace was more promising, particularly after he switched to a three-stop strategy to keep Mercedes under pressure.
Abu Dhabi – Failed to make it into Q2 when his team incorrectly assumed his position was safe. But having started 15th he made his way up to fourth with little drama: he ran long on soft tyres while most others used the super-softs, used the softer tyres to easily pass Ricciardo and Perez and coped with the heavy graining which followed. He also made way for Raikkonen when he needed to.
Over to you
Apart from one weak race he’s driven the maximum out of his Ferrari, thrashed his team mate and even beaten the Mercedes and, unlike them, has been able to demonstrate his overtaking skills.
@Glynh
What’s your verdict on Sebastian Vettel’s 2015 season? Which drivers do you feel he performed better or worse than? Have your say in the comments.
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Billy.rsk
18th December 2015, 12:53
Yes, yes, and yes again!
Joao (@johnmilk)
19th December 2015, 11:46
your comment is going unnoticed and it shouldn’t, don’t know if people got it ahah
+1
Kingshark (@kingshark)
18th December 2015, 12:53
Hamilton is the new Vettel and Vettel is the new Alonso.
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
18th December 2015, 12:58
And Alonso is the old Alonso
hello kitty
18th December 2015, 13:00
hee hee, very true!
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
18th December 2015, 14:07
And Button was better than Alonso…
Hyoko
18th December 2015, 16:02
We all were worried sick about you, you hadn’t repeated that again in the last 2 hours or so…
IrukaViking
19th December 2015, 6:54
Leave it alone mate. ”Broken record” doesn’t come close to describing you.
tawa
22nd December 2015, 4:52
What a shock Keith would put Vettel as number 1.
Oh wait, it isn’t at all, he remains an apologetic fanboy as ever.
I cannot wait until Vettel has another competitive teammate, is once again crushed, and all you apologists will have to admit 2014 wasn’t simply an ‘off year.’
Anthony
23rd December 2015, 15:08
This was the result as chosen by voters on this website.
David-A (@david-a)
23rd December 2015, 16:34
If you want to post garbage, at least bother to have an account on the site so it can be debated properly. Instead of the usual post and run.
Sumedh
18th December 2015, 12:55
Brilliant brilliant season. Especially after the setback of 2014. And I loved how he ribbed the Mercedes drivers in every press conference. I haven’t seen a happier Ferrari team since the early 2000s
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
18th December 2015, 16:02
No bonus points for that of course but I did enjoy it!
Apex Assassin
18th December 2015, 21:49
Agreed!
Great selection Keith!
sunny stivala
20th December 2015, 9:08
“I loved how he ribbed the Mercedes drivers in every press conference” and Keith Kollantine says “I (he) did enjoy-it”. hard to believe you Keith.
lockup (@)
18th December 2015, 12:56
Yeah fair play Seb was terrific this year. I so hope his car is up with the Mercs next season.
tmax (@tmax)
18th December 2015, 13:00
It was a great season and a great drive from him this yeah. It was a pleasure to watch him race. Hope fwrari can build on this momentum next year for some interesting races
Michal (@michal2009b)
18th December 2015, 13:01
I hope Ferrari’s chassis will match its number one driver performance for once. Also Vettel is a true Ferrari man.
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
18th December 2015, 13:03
I have to admit that, when he won the second race of the year, I thought Seb could challenge for the WDC. It was so sad Ferrari was not at the same Merc level. But Vettel has proved that he didn’t luck into a good Newey car to get his 4 titles. Now he is getting the recognition he has long deserved, which is great, considering the boos he got just for winning.
Equinox
18th December 2015, 13:06
Well said. The only two great drivers that we have right now in the current field are Vettel and Alonso. The others are just there to make up the numbers sadly.
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
18th December 2015, 13:18
Is not 3 drivers? Hamilton deserves credit too!
Equinox
18th December 2015, 13:40
He deserves nothing. I have never ever seen a driver making tons of excuses just because he’s not performing well not to mention the comments that him made about Schumacher and Vettel which are disgraceful.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
18th December 2015, 14:37
You’re doing just the same to Hamilton what you hated people did to Vettel? However you rank them F1 has three top dogs Alonso/Vettel/Hamilton, sadly their cars aren’t.
matt90 (@matt90)
18th December 2015, 20:44
It’s like you’ve never seen an interview with any driver aside from Hamilton.
Kgn11
18th December 2015, 13:07
But didn’t he drive a Newey car in 2014? What was the outcome then?
David-A (@david-a)
18th December 2015, 15:02
A Newey car that broke down even more than it usually does.
GeeMac (@geemac)
18th December 2015, 19:18
Like the MP4-18? Or the MP4-20? He isn’t infallible.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
18th December 2015, 13:19
@omarr-pepper
For 2000, my one wish would be that there is absolutely nothing to choose between Mercedes and Ferrari. As evenly matched as McLaren and Ferrari were in 2000. Then we will see a proper (fair) fight between Vet and Ham to decide who really is the best driver of their generation.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
18th December 2015, 13:20
fixed
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
18th December 2015, 13:22
2016 @kingshark ? I fixed your fix
Kingshark (@kingshark)
18th December 2015, 13:24
@omarr-pepper
You win. :P
frood19 (@frood19)
18th December 2015, 14:54
i think this year showed that we need more variety in the calendar i.e. different tracks suiting some cars better than others. when conditions were abnormal like in malaysia or singapore, or even in the wet in austin, ferrari and red bull were able to challenge. when it’s 20-30 degrees and every track is similar, mercedes win.
Michal (@michal2009b)
18th December 2015, 15:12
@kingshark – Let’s go a step further and pray for Honda recovery and we will see Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton fighting for the title. I am so excited just to think about that possibility. They are as different from each other as possible. Now that would be a battle to be the best of the generation :)
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
18th December 2015, 16:24
@michal2009b ……..2010? (the cars were pretty close to even, if not in outright pace (the RB6 was not too much more reliable than the 2005 McLaren)…)
Michal (@michal2009b)
18th December 2015, 16:59
@davidnotcoulthard – good reminder! Though I still think it was not a true three-way fight. Also Hamilton dropped back at the end and Vettel’s stacks were not as high as they are now. But anyway, I have nothing against deja vu (Ferrari in Red Bull role but without endless rows).
anon
18th December 2015, 15:45
@omarr-pepper, I think that the boos when Vettel won weren’t always directly just towards him just because he won, but also at the team he represented (Red Bull).
As the public face of a team that became increasingly disliked, booing Vettel was a way of attacking the team and attacking the person who was perceived as benefiting the most from their politicking behind the scenes over the regulations in that era. At the very least, Kravitz stated that, when he asked some of those whom he saw booing Vettel why they did that, that was the response they got (i.e. it was the team they hated and, as Vettel was aggressively marketed as the face of Red Bull, he became the target of their ire).
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
18th December 2015, 16:02
Hear, hear.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
19th December 2015, 4:15
Agreed. Any doubts over his abilities should be long gone. Now its time to show his teamwork building skills and inspire italians.
Nick (@nick101)
19th December 2015, 23:07
I’m sorry, but I disagree.
Vettel is a great driver for sure, but coming third in the third best car on the grid is no more amazing or proof of any skill than Hamilton coming first in the best car on the grid.
I’m sorry, but I don’t get it. Hamilton cops it left and right for winning in a dominant car, yet Vettel gets plaudits for coming third in the third best car?? Really?
Yes, they beat their team mates but I would hardly call beating Raikkonen any sort of achievement considering his form the last few years and Rosberg has been neutered since Spa 2014.
Give Vettel a decent team mate and then we’ll see. He’s only been up against 1 team mate who could really challenge him and that was last year. We all know how that went.
Todfod (@todfod)
21st December 2015, 12:54
@nick101
I’m not a fan of Vettel, yet I think he did an awesome job this year. The fact that he was the only other driver that threatened the Mercs all season long, and also the only driver to take 3 very convincing wins has got to put him at #1. Honestly, if Hamilton didn’t slack in the last 6 races of the season it would be really close between them.
I don’t believe Vettel in 2015 was still anywhere close to Alonso in 2012, but he did quite an awesome job nonetheless.
David-A (@david-a)
21st December 2015, 18:40
@nick101
All teammates can “challenge” each other. It’s about going out and beating them to the fullest extent possible, which Vettel & Hamilton did.
GeeMac (@geemac)
18th December 2015, 13:06
It’s easy to be dramatic when commenting on sport, but Vettel really was reborn this season. He looked fresh and hungry in pre-season testing, he won races convincingly when he had a sniff of victory and with all his attempts to make press conferences with the Mercedes drivers interesting he came across as a more likeable human being than ever. Easily the best driver in the field this season.
Jake (@jleigh)
18th December 2015, 13:22
For me, Hamilton and Vettel were pretty much a match this year on the track (I don’t buy he whole comparison with teammate argument…Raikkonen is past it and I believe Hamilton would beat him with similar ease).
But for me, Vettel takes it purely for his press conference antics!!
WilliamB (@william-brierty)
18th December 2015, 13:58
A sublime season from Vettel. Even Alonso’s most committed fans, who have wistfully imagined what he could have achieved in the SF15-T will struggle to convincingly suggest he could have done any better, because bar scruffy races in Bahrain and Mexico, Vettel has amassed virtually every point available to him.
Yes, without a teammate pushing him all the way, you could argue that it has been rather easy for Vettel to fall in the enormous gap between leaders Mercedes and Ferrari’s chasers Williams/Red Bull. But Vettel has tended to be much closer to the Mercedes than to his chasers, so much so that had Mercedes not entered the championship this year, Vettel would have wrapped up the title at Suzuka.
He has silenced the critics of last year, and he has silenced those that waffled on about winning with only one team and the “Newey-effect”. Fortunately now those critics are having to come to terms with the fact that this young man will go down in history as one of the greats of our sport.
q85
18th December 2015, 21:35
if you want to bring in an alonso comparison you could say Alonso nearly won a title in a lot lot slower car! Though his consistency which is the mark of his game was stood him way above anyone that year. Never has a title been more deserved.
I think you said right in that alonso at his peak wouldn’t of had those scruffy days. Certainly 2011-13 where he was incredible. i think he has lost his edge now, but probably still well in the mix with the other 2.
Vettel has had a great year, but his team mate is probably the luckiest man in F1 to have a job.
Craig
18th December 2015, 13:58
Vettel in 2015 is a curious case. His personality hasn’t changed but more people like him now. It makes me wonder if the dislike aimed at him was more aimed at Red Bull’s arrogance, which also must have effected Vettel in 2014 when things were going wrong.
For all we can decry Vettel winning his championships in a superior car, it’s always been apparent his has natural skill (which the superior car made difficult to truly place). Ferrari’s renewed enthusiasm seems to have re-ignited him and we may yet see some classic races between him and Hamilton in future.
Equinox
18th December 2015, 14:00
Hamilton wouldn’t keep up with Vettel if they are in identical cars that’s for sure.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
18th December 2015, 16:25
Sorry but I think he would.
N
18th December 2015, 18:41
Like when they were both in F3?
manas
18th December 2015, 18:58
If Ricardo did why couldn’t Lewis Hamilton.
Johannes (@johanness)
19th December 2015, 2:33
Let’s see if this gets edited out: DR only ‘could’ because of Seb’s lousy reliability and the fact that he had one foot out the door all year. Nothing more.
David-A (@david-a)
18th December 2015, 21:27
You’re underestimating the triple world champion Equinox.
Lisbeth
18th December 2015, 17:58
I think his personality has changed this year. During his stint as WC at Red Bull, he would talk until we couldn’t stand to hear his voice any more. He would yammer on and on and on. We would pass on watching the podium presentations just because we couldn’t take hearing him accept his trophy and be interviewed! This year he is succinct, playful, and I’m not sure how but every ounce of him is a Ferrari man, just like Michael Schumacher was and really always will be. Don’t get me wrong, he was a Red Bull man when he was at that team, but this year is different. I think he was meant to be with Ferrari. His heart and soul are fully engaged and it’s showing in the results. It also shows in his attitude, his bearing, his over all personality. I can’t wait to see what the team can do next year. I’m just thrilled that Ferrari is finally on its way back to the top. Let’s hope Kimi can get himself together and the two of them can restore Ferrari to its former glory.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
18th December 2015, 14:03
Sebastian Vettel show with his performance this year why he is the best formula 1 driver after Michael Schumacher in the last two decades. A great four times champion!
Johnny
18th December 2015, 14:10
Vettel “scruffy” in Bahrain? He was as he is often when he’s desperate. For some reason however desperation is excused in everyone but drivers who’s name begin with Ham and end in ton. Bahrain, Monza and Mexico, three races where Vettel showed just how ordinary he can be when he’s under pressure. Bahrain and Mexico, in particular he was embarrassing. Coupled with a team mate who’s performance has long passed the freshness date… let’s just say you flatter him with this ranking.
Hamilton clearly did not deserve a number 1 ranking this year because of the way he ended the season but Vettel’s successes came only when Mercedes faltered, unlike Ricciardo last year when he was able to beat the Silver arrows on driving merit at least once. Where Red Bull, Williams & McLaren more competitive there would not have been the steady stream of Vettel podiums. Grosjean and Perez both saw the third step, let’s put it in to perspective.
petebaldwin (@)
18th December 2015, 14:31
To be fair, Perez finished 3rd because Bottas and Kimi crashed and Grosjean finished 3rd because Seb’s tyre blew…
Oletros (@oletros)
18th December 2015, 14:34
You have seen different F1 seasons than the rest of the world
Oletros (@oletros)
18th December 2015, 14:35
Wrong OP
Oletros (@oletros)
18th December 2015, 14:34
You have seen different F1 seasons than the rest of the world
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
18th December 2015, 14:39
The best joke of the year. It’s funny how it’s almost exactly the other way around…
GeeMac (@geemac)
18th December 2015, 15:00
You clearly didn’t watch Malaysia and Singapore where two healthy Mercedes were shown a clean pair of heels by Vettel’s Ferrari.
markp
18th December 2015, 18:51
All Ricciardos wins were due to Merc issues all Vettels wins this year were on merit no technical issues for Merc. Wrong way round.
Alpha
18th December 2015, 14:11
I am sure many german fans would disagree, but how hard is it to beat a Kimi who is on his way out the door of F1? Seb had a good season, however, it isn’t better than Alonso last year. If he beat Rosberg on the points, then I would probably agree that he deserves the No.1 status. Having compare to how Hamilton performed over the season, it is a lot harder for him to beat his own team mate who is at the same age with the same car and know him inside out. Remember there wasn’t even once that Rosberg was asked to move aside for Hamilton, but they did so for Hamilton who refused and also robbed his victory with the stupid pit stop at Monaco. So having considering all that, Hamilton still managed to win the championship with a few races to spare, how can anyone not agree that Hamilton deserves the No.1 Statues.
petebaldwin (@)
18th December 2015, 14:27
Because Hamilton has already said winning the title in the fastest car is easy. He said it about Vettel when him and Alonso were trying to belittle Seb’s consecutive Championships.
Red Bull never had the advantage Mercedes had.
iFelix (@ifelix)
18th December 2015, 16:08
Precisely!
N
18th December 2015, 18:44
It dosn’t matter if your car is faster by 1 minute or 10 minutes, if its faster, its faster. When Vettel extracted the maximum out of his Redbull, no one was going to beat him. The margin of the win is irrelevent.
CashNotClass (@cashnotclass)
19th December 2015, 14:58
Of course it matters how big the margin is; if you need to ‘extract the maximum’ the danger of making mistakes or the equipment failing is much higher than when you’re able to cruise around comfortably within the margins of the car. Why do you think Mercedes went on for ages before switching to Engine #2 this year? They were under no pressure to ‘extract the maximum’, so enormous was their advantage.
Broom (@)
18th December 2015, 18:45
Raikkonnen had more knowledge of Ferrari than Vettel. I don’t think I will remember Hamilton or Rosberg’s wins bar USA and Monaco more for the laughs!! However Hungary and Malaysia will live long in the memory. Just like Alonso’s wins in 2012 & some of them in 2010 and Schumacher’s in 96 & 97, because you are not supposed to beat superior cars driven by elite drivers.
petebaldwin (@)
18th December 2015, 14:24
Im a British McLaren/Hamilton fan but i finish this season a Vettel fan. Enough said!
He is everything I wish Hamilton still was. If he’s won a race, he pushes for the fastest lap. If he spins off, he fights his way back. If he wins the title before the last race, he pushes for the record points scored. Hamilton just gives up.
You can see that Vettel absolutely loves F1 – I cant say the same for Lewis.
evered7 (@evered7)
18th December 2015, 14:48
Amen!
Clare ninety-five (@clare-m95)
18th December 2015, 16:45
I’d honestly never thought about it like that before, but as soon as I read your comment, it makes complete sense – Vettel won the championship and continued to win races whereas Lewis got too pre-occupied with the partying and lost focus at the end of the season
Patrick (@paeschli)
18th December 2015, 18:28
Especially Hamilton’s “I wish the season was over” comment felt wrong. How can you prefer partying to driving the fastest car in the world?
brokenlink
19th December 2015, 14:03
The notion that Vettel always drives at maximum is contradicted by those who claim that, in his last year at Red Bull when he was comprehensively beaten by Riccardo, he was on his way to Ferrari and therefore wasn’t as committed.
So which was it? Was Vettel earning his paycheck in 2014 and giving Red Bull his all while being out driven by his team mate, or was he cruising along counting the days?
Why does Hamilton get criticized for stating the obvious, that the championship was wrapped up, and Vettel get a pass for 2014? Even if Hamilton eased off after Austin, he did no harm to himself or his employer, as both championships had been won.
David-A (@david-a)
21st December 2015, 18:43
I don’t know about being less committed, but his form dipped in 2014 (exascerbated by massive misfortune). So did Lewis’ in 2011.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
18th December 2015, 18:15
@petebaldwin @clare-m95 If that’s ever proven (of the beyond reasonable doubt kind) true I don’t think that should be put against HAM though – I think he probably loves F1 more than John Surtees did anyway.
although if you want to focus not entirely on F1 I’d say Eddie Irvine would be a much better example to follow than HAM. He got not too far from winning a title, too.
HAM is much better for Bernie though.
petebaldwin (@)
18th December 2015, 18:35
@davidnotcoulthard – He’s free to do what he likes and whatever he chooses to do, he’s one of the best f1 drivers ever. No one can take that away from him. On his day, he is unbeatable.
In terms of a role model though – someone I’d want my kids to look up to – it’s Vettel over Hamilton every time!
Henrik
18th December 2015, 19:55
“(Hamilton) is one of the best f1 drivers ever”
That depends on how long you make the list and how you measure. Let’s limit it to the top twenty of all time – and forget about number of wins etc as they have twice as many races these days. (Not to mention that none of today’s drivers have the balls of steel required of the 1950-80 F1 drivers.)
1-10 in no particular order except era: Fangio, Ascari, Clark, G Hill, Stewart, Fittipaldi, Lauda, Prost, Senna and Schumacher.
11-20 Farina, von Trips, Moss, Brabham, Hulme, Rindt, Peterson, Mansell, Alonso, Vettel
Oh dear, Hamilton does not even make Top 20 and is he really better than Hawthorn, Brooks, Surtees, McLaren, Hunt, Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve, Piquet or Mika Häkkinen who also didn’t make Top 20…
Equinox
18th December 2015, 23:03
Hamilton doesn’t even make top 30 of all time let alone top 20.
N
19th December 2015, 10:40
“Hamilton doesn’t even make top 30 of all time let alone top 20.”
hahah
Nico, is that you?
Kingshark (@kingshark)
19th December 2015, 11:36
Vettel and Hamilton have already surpassed G Hill, Lauda and Fittipaldi. They have already achieved far more (statistically) than either Hill or Fittipaldi did in F1. Likewise, Lauda got bested by too many teammates.
Henrik
19th December 2015, 17:44
Kingshark, I already said “forget about number of wins etc as they have twice as many races these days”, yet you cannot resist invoking stale and non-weighed statistics… If you do so, look at MEANINGFUL statistics such wins-to-starts ratio or (weighed) points-per-race keeping the fact in mind that to begin with, only 9 (nine) points were awarded for a win and only 6 (six) drivers were awarded points. Right now, Hamilton “only” has 43 wins from 167 starts with no less than 21 wins from 38 starts with Rosberg being the only realistic competitor (unlike when Prost and Senna faced each other at McLaren in ’88 and ’89) against the 91 from 309 starts of Schumacher which is the statistic he (as well as Alonso and Vettel) has to measure up against and not the 13 wins of Ascari from a mere 32 starts. (Also, don’t forget that Schumacher’s stats are sullied by his comeback years at an uncompetitive Mercedes which if excluded means he had 91 wins from 251 starts.)
Kingshark (@kingshark)
19th December 2015, 23:15
Since you seemingly put so much emphasis on % of wins per start:
G Hill – 7.95%
Fittipaldi – 9.72%
Lauda – 14.62%
Vettel – 26.58%
Hamilton – 25.75%
So what exactly is your justification for putting Hill, Fittipaldi and Lauda ahead of Hamilton and Vettel again?
Only Fangio, Ascari, Clark, Schumacher and Steward have a higher % wins to race starts ratio. Senna and Prost are lower, Lauda doesn’t even come close.
If you want to play that game (exclude the seasons with noncompetitive cars), we can exclude the first 1.5 years of Vettel’s career, which makes his win ratio 41 wins/132 starts = 31.1%
It doesn’t work like that, you can’t pick and choose the years you want for an ideal statistic.
Henrik
23rd December 2015, 16:58
“So what exactly is your justification for putting Hill, Fittipaldi and Lauda ahead of Hamilton and Vettel again?”
Hamilton and Vettel race in carbon-fibre, computer-calculated safety boxes on ultra-safe Tilke-dromes with Safer(TM)-barriers. Graham Hill, Fittipaldi and Lauda raced in an era of cars built from steel or aluminium tubing with aluminium or glass fibre outer skins with circuits enclosed by ditches and banks or fenced in by decapitating Armco (Cevert & Koinigg), surrounded by killing trees (von Tripps, Clark, Bonnier) in cars that would roast their drivers alive (Bandini, Williamson and damned near Lauda). Also, they and Vettel had serious competition for race wins and not only from their team mates but other drivers from other teams. If you look at Hammy during his McLaren years, a picture of a rather average driver emerges, one not better than Button.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
19th December 2015, 4:22
Here here… Agree fully, Ham would be so much better if it was more like Vettel.
David BR
19th December 2015, 18:10
Vettel was good this year, and a lot more easy to watch off track, but I think people are over-egging it. When was he under any sustained pressure over the course of the season? I agree that his attitude helped him stay relaxed, enjoy the season and drive well. But that’s not the same as a scrap with someone in the same car to win the championship.
That said, though, Hamilton’s decline in form over the final batch of races really is enough to make him a bit undeserving of top spot, despite the excellence of this first half of the season. So Vettel first seems right.
matt
20th December 2015, 0:38
so what happened to vettel in 2014 then?
David-A (@david-a)
20th December 2015, 0:53
@supremef1
A dip year, which happens with everyone.
To the Max !
18th December 2015, 14:31
I can’t argue about Vettel being put on nr.1. Every top driver has from time to time a few bad races (2-4 each season) because they are still humans…we all have days when things simply don’t seem to go or way. Most race weekends he got the absolute maximum out of his car, more so as Hamilton and the rest of the grid, so nr. 1 is fully deserved.
faulty (@faulty)
18th December 2015, 16:58
*Except for Michael in 2002.
To the Max !
18th December 2015, 17:03
I was talking about humans. :)
Kingshark (@kingshark)
18th December 2015, 20:07
@faulty
Schumacher crashed into Montoya in Malaysia. Had Barrichello, Coulthard and Raikkonen not all blown up their engines when running 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively, he wouldn’t have finished anywhere near the podium.
His 2000 season was overall better, all things considered.
phil9079 (@phil9079)
18th December 2015, 14:36
I’m really REALLY happy to see that Vettel finally got what he deserves. I have respect for every driver, but I saw the diffrence between Vettel and Hamilton and not only in F1. Vettel his personallity is totally diffrent from Hamilton. They remind me so much of the movie “Rush” that I saw. Ofcourse Rush was only a hype. Perhaps the 2 personallity’s of Lauda and Hunt were diffrently in real life, but in the movie, they aren’t so diffrent from the personality’s of Vettel and Hamilton. Vettel being concentrated and Hamilton being into fashion and singing and partying…
Nase (@)
18th December 2015, 14:36
P1 for Vettel is definitely a justifiable choice. But I wouldn’t call that a revelation or anything of the like. His time to shine came with a thoroughly revised Ferrari PU that propelled the Prancing Horse within racing distance to the Mercs on quite a few circuits, and even a small step ahead of them in a couple of races. He did his best to capitalise on the Mercs’ shortcomings, and was there to punish them whenever they ran into trouble of some sort. However, his season was not perfect, and memories of 2014 shone through in Bahrain (where Rosberg overtook him no less than 3 times, and multiple errors ultimately cost him a place in the Top 4 in a race that he could’ve won on sheer pace) and in Mexico (where he struggled to put a foot right all race long before crashing out).
One is left wondering how much of his apparent glamour is owed to his team mate’s abysmal performance:
For the second year in a row, Räikkönen showed very few flashes of competitiveness between races that were compromised by a lack of pace (MCO, HN, SGP, JPN, BRA), numerous blunders (AUS, CDN, AUT, ITA, RUS, USA, MEX), his inability to adapt to changing climatic conditions (AUT, GBR, USA), first lap incidents (AUS, MAL), and a pair of uncontrollable technical failures (HUN, BEL). He won only two of the qualifying battles in which Vettel wasn’t sidelined by a technical issue (CDN) or a failed strategic gamble (UAE), losing almost half a second per qualifying, scoring roughly half as many points as Vettel, whose points alone would’ve sufficed to secure P2 in the Constructors’ Championship.
And here’s how all this gets relevant: By comparison, his 2014 season looked even worse, with Alonso outscoring him almost 3:1, out-qualifying him 16-3 (with only one qualifying decided in Räikkönen’s favour on sheer pace) and beating him in all races but one (Spa, where he was plagued by an unholy combination of ERS-H trouble, a drive-through and an overzealous K-Mag).
So what do we make of this? Can we safely assume that Räikkönen was much stronger than last year, so that Vettel’s effort can be considered the cream of the crop? After all, Alonso’s eclipsing of Räikkönen in 2014 ‘only’ saw him come second in the 2014 edition of this ranking …
I can see why he finished in the top spot. After all, he did leave a very good impression.
However, it is far from certain that he would’ve shone as much alongside a team mate that was adequate to the task. How would he’ve stood up against Alonso? Now, that would’ve been interesting to see. Can we be sure that a Ferrari driver named Ricciardo would not have hurt him the same way he did in the 2014 Red Bull?
In my opinion, this kind of critical questioning is missing in this ranking, leading to a result that can best be characterised as ‘Yes, but …”.
Oletros (@oletros)
18th December 2015, 18:17
Even if him did the same with Alonso or Ricciardo you would find anything to dismiss Vettel.
manas
18th December 2015, 18:53
Agreed.i also have the same doubts.
JohnS
18th December 2015, 19:20
As long as we’re asking completely unanswerable questions, how would Alonso have stood up against Ricciardo in the same car? Can we be sure that Ricciardo would have impressed at Ferrari if he’d had the same history of car malfunctions and general bad luck which Vettel experienced in 2014? How many titles would Alonso have if not for the mass damper?
markp
19th December 2015, 21:10
How would Ricciardo stand up against Vergne or Kyvatt….oh yes he lost. Ricciardo is a one season wonder and has been mediocre in his other 3 years. Ricciardo would have been thrashed at Ferrari this year he took advantage last year of a great taking a breather from 4 straight titles then having a poor car. Cannot compare a 4 time champion to a 3 time race winner who has lost to his team mates in half the years he has been in F1.
uan (@uan)
19th December 2015, 4:03
Actually Bahrain and Mexico weren’t as bad as they appeared.
In Bahrain, Vettel was overtaken by Rosberg 3 times. Three times! When Rosberg should have been well ahead and shadowing Lewis and not ever needing to pass Vettel once.
There was no way for Vettel to know both Mercs would experience brake problems. It’s not in his mentality to mark time until the car in front breaks (Hamilton and Vettel are very similar this way, and it’s probably the one negative I’d have against Alonso, who does). So he was pushing the car to its limit and beyond trying to stay in front of a car much faster than his. What cost him though was a freak break of his front wing coming back on the track just as he passed the pit lane. The error was compounded tremendously by that.
With regards to Mexico, I think Vettel was doing the same – trying to drive beyond the limits of the car after Ricciardo’s ill-advised dive in to a corner he was never going to make. At that point, what does Vettel have to lose? It’s the last chance to stay within a shout of P2 in the WDC. If he fails, what of it? He’s already confirmed for P3 in the WDC.
The impact of Vettel was most obvious, imho, in Brazil. He put in massive qualifying lap that was more than could be expected from that Ferrari (similar to Singapore where Brundle was saying no one would be able to go under 1’34 (iirc) and then Vettel smashed that – Brundle was amazed). But in the race, Vettel’s pace and moving to a 3-stopper caused Mercedes to change their strategy. Imagine that – the Mercedes with the advantage they have needing to respond to the Ferrari of Vettel. Near the end, if there was a lap more, Vettel may have actually overtaken Hamilton.
Hamilton and Vettel put in some sublime performances this year, and heads and shoulders above the field. Vettel stayed more consistent than Hamilton as Keith said.
It’s easy to find reasons to tear down drivers we don’t like.
Thomson (@fish123)
18th December 2015, 14:45
Fully deserved the top spot! All season long kept Mercedes on their toes!
Awesome recovery by both him and the team since last year!
#Bring on 2016!
manas
18th December 2015, 14:56
Put a better driver in that second Ferrari we will know how good vettel is.Ricardo,Button,Verstappen,Bottas or even Rosberg.After that compare him to Hamilton and Alonso.Never been at their level .vettel just lucked by dominant car with favouritism and sub par team mates apart from Ricardo.
David-A (@david-a)
18th December 2015, 15:06
@manas
You’re writing off Raikkonen, yet he did to him exactly what Alonso did. But lol, he’s “never been at their level”. I can tell you’ve got to lower your salt intake.
manas
18th December 2015, 18:32
I didn’t questioned raikonen’s legacy he was good but not great he lost his prime but vettel in his prime was overshadowed by Daniel Ricardo it something like this never happened to Hamilton or Alonso in their career.Jenson button outscored Hamilton but it was not like Ricardo crushed vettel.Hamilton still managed to win races in 2011 not been dominated.I have respect for vettel as he is a 4time Wc.but he didn’t tested with a good team mate apart from Ricardo.Vettel is a good driver no doubt but is he at the same level of Alonso or Hamilton?
Oletros (@oletros)
18th December 2015, 18:42