Kind of makes mockery of the FIA’s drive for a fuel efficient formula and the mandated fuel flow limit. I have no doubts these engines could be approaching the legendary BMW 1.5L turbos in qualifying trim with a rumoured 1,500HP. How long they’d last at that though I don’t know, but I suspect not very.
Vettel leaving Ferrari
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Soldato
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Wonder if Vettel fancies (and would be offered) a seat to battle alongside Alonso at Renault next year?
Fans of either/both might fancy seeing two of the last decade's F1 legends in the same spec car.
Fans of either/both might fancy seeing two of the last decade's F1 legends in the same spec car.
Yeah, but what are the chances of the cars lasting a whole race?
Renault supporter here
One of the Last people I'd want off the grid is vettel
Part of me likes his directness recently
But so so many mistakes
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It sounds to me like Red Bull are seriously considering bringing him back, Horner has had plenty of opportunity to distance the team from Seb; today he refused to rule it out; and you've got Max publicly saying he would be happy to have Vettel as a team-mate.
I don't believe that Vettel is on the same level as Verstappen (certainly not now) but he could be a very solid second driver who is almost as quick and is there to pick up the pieces when it goes wrong; and I get the feeling that he might settle at Red Bull again, he's clearly very ****** off at Ferrari and has been for a couple of years now - it also gives him plenty of post-F1 options as a Red Bull ambassador, maybe join the team in some way.
I don't believe that Vettel is on the same level as Verstappen (certainly not now) but he could be a very solid second driver who is almost as quick and is there to pick up the pieces when it goes wrong; and I get the feeling that he might settle at Red Bull again, he's clearly very ****** off at Ferrari and has been for a couple of years now - it also gives him plenty of post-F1 options as a Red Bull ambassador, maybe join the team in some way.
Probably more importantly: he has a huge amount of development experience. Red Bull need drivers who can help them develop the car.
Ferrari have reportedly been developing their car to Vettel's preference for years and rarely a race goes by without him complaining about handling, something amiss there.
Why would you want to develop a car to someone who seems to want it a very specific way and struggles if it's not to his liking when you could just develop the fastest car possible and hire a driver who will adapt and get the most out of it like Leclerc has been doing?
What real opportunity is there to 'develop' a car nowadays? The days of teams virtually having a dedicated test team pounding round Jerez or Fiorano have long gone with the ban on in-season testing.
It just strikes me that Seb never really got to grips with the changed characteristics of the hybrid era. I'm nor sure what it is; he clearly needs a very planted 'rear end', hence his mastery of the Exhaust Blown Diffuser era. Could it be the lack of rear downforce now has him struggling? He's clearly fallen out of love with Ferrari, and seemingly F1 in general; it's very odd and a very quick decline. The only comparison I can draw where a good driver (I'd not call him 'great') has declined so quickly is Hakkinen post 2000/1.
And replace whom? Racing Point are pretty happy with Perez - and why wouldn't they be? - and Stroll is too well connected to ditch even if he doesn't perform well enough to keep his place this year.
I think Vettel leaving F1 is the most likely outcome now Renault have taken Alonso. Haas, Alfa, and Williams all might have a space for him, but would Vettel really want to take such a drive?
I think it’s more about being a statement of intent for Aston Martin, hiring a multiple world champion. Perez does bring a decent amount of money into the team though, will they be willing lo lose that and pay the likely higher wages Vettel would want?
Deleted member 651465
Deleted member 651465
Agreed. Lawrence Stroll and the investors won’t want Lance if he continues to be dog ****. It may fly when they’re racing under the RP brand but once the Aston Martin brand is over the front door he’ll (Lawrence) will have pressure to replace Lance if he’s not delivering.
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This. He was the class of the field before the hybrid era but you just can't hustle these ships like you could the relatively nimble cars which preceded them.
It is odd that he spins so often, but the Ferrari has been front limited in recent years (so much so they apparently couldn't run full rear downforce last season), so perhaps the sudden snap of the rear when he is alongside another car does explain it.
Watching a lap onboard during the race last week his car looked dire and frankly broken and I'm surprised he didn't park it. Not just slow, but completely unpredictable. Understeering like a cross channel ferry (as Brundle would say) at one point with snap oversteer in other corners!
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Yet Leclerc took that same car to second place.
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I've not seen a video of Leclerc's car looking like this.
Leclerc did well, but he only got second because of Hamilton's penalty, Albon being spun and Perez not stopping when others did. On pace he'd have been fifth at best.
No, neither have I, but they were driving identical cars except for any difference in setup, so why was Leclerc able to make it look so much better?
You can say this about pretty much any race though, there's always some level of luck, and the same applies to Vettel's 10th. Without various incidents in his favour he'd have been even lower.
It's the same car so it's either driving ability or car setup like Mr Jack says. If it's car setup then that brings us back to Vettel's supposed experience in car development. If he's unable to setup a car for a race properly after all of these years then why would you trust/value his opinion in developing your car chassis? If it's racing ability then I would say it's because he's either unable or unwilling to adapt his driving style and instead expects the car to behave exactly how he wants it to and anything less is bad handling that's not his fault. Top drivers will always adapt their driving style to the car/conditions they're faced with and get the most out of what they're given, with all of Vettel's experience and Leclerc still really being a rookie you would have expected the performances at the weekend to have been the other way around.
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