Sebastian Vettel

[LaurasOtherHalf]

REALIST123 said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

TheDeuce said:

Seb back to RB...? Maybe that would make a grain of sense if RB were short on sponsors and if Albon wasn't looking so promising! But they're not short of sponsorship and Albon looks like a fantastic investment for the future.


I think most of these rumours come down to nothing more than people simply not wanting seb to leave.
Of course he DID meet with Horner and Marko so possibly something is going on.. it doesn't necessarily mean it's a seat in the car though. Or quite possibly it was just a social given he won them 4 titles and him (probably) leaving is big news to those close to him.

Id like to see him and max together actually, they’d make an entertaining team especially with Horner at the helm!

Albon? He’s Torro Rosso material at best. He’s a mile away from max on times and a couple of good safety car strategy decisions by his team does not a racing genius make.

Is he any closer to max in session times than Gasly was last year?

He’s also had two very good chances to win/podium now and binned both opportunities. In a car his team mate has consistently shown is capable of wins.

I doubt he’ll overestimate Hamilton a third time.

nice try

[TwentyFive]

Leithen said:

I'd put him alongside Lauda, Hakkinen, Mansell in the WC ranks.

He is not in the same league as Lauda or Hakkinen. Those guys came through true adversity to come back and win world championships. Yes you cannot deny that Vettel is a 4 time world champion on merit but I am not seeing the adversity or struggle he has had to contend with to get there? It's been a bit of a silver spoon career thanks to Red Bull.

Lauda has legend status, Vettel is nowhere near that.

[paulguitar]

REALIST123 said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

TheDeuce said:

Seb back to RB...? Maybe that would make a grain of sense if RB were short on sponsors and if Albon wasn't looking so promising! But they're not short of sponsorship and Albon looks like a fantastic investment for the future.


I think most of these rumours come down to nothing more than people simply not wanting seb to leave.
Of course he DID meet with Horner and Marko so possibly something is going on.. it doesn't necessarily mean it's a seat in the car though. Or quite possibly it was just a social given he won them 4 titles and him (probably) leaving is big news to those close to him.

Id like to see him and max together actually, they’d make an entertaining team especially with Horner at the helm!

Albon? He’s Torro Rosso material at best. He’s a mile away from max on times and a couple of good safety car strategy decisions by his team does not a racing genius make.

Is he any closer to max in session times than Gasly was last year?

He’s also had two very good chances to win/podium now and binned both opportunities. In a car his team mate has consistently shown is capable of wins.

I doubt he’ll overestimate Hamilton a third time.

He'll learn from it. If he had Hamilton's level of racecraft, there would have been no contact between them as he would have left more room.

[TheDeuce]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

TheDeuce said:

Seb back to RB...? Maybe that would make a grain of sense if RB were short on sponsors and if Albon wasn't looking so promising! But they're not short of sponsorship and Albon looks like a fantastic investment for the future.


I think most of these rumours come down to nothing more than people simply not wanting seb to leave.
Of course he DID meet with Horner and Marko so possibly something is going on.. it doesn't necessarily mean it's a seat in the car though. Or quite possibly it was just a social given he won them 4 titles and him (probably) leaving is big news to those close to him.

Id like to see him and max together actually, they’d make an entertaining team especially with Horner at the helm!

Albon? He’s Torro Rosso material at best. He’s a mile away from max on times and a couple of good safety car strategy decisions by his team does not a racing genius make.

Is he any closer to max in session times than Gasly was last year?

He’s also had two very good chances to win/podium now and binned both opportunities. In a car his team mate has consistently shown is capable of wins.

To follow up this... Horner just confirmed during FP1 that vettel is definitely not going to RB, they are committed to Max and Albon. So Albon for next year is all but confirmed too - unless he screws up of course.

[anonymous-user]

TheDeuce said:

To follow up this... Horner just confirmed during FP1 that vettel is definitely not going to RB, they are committed to Max and Albon. So Albon for next year is all but confirmed too - unless he screws up of course.

That's Horner's position right now. By the end of FP1 it could be totally different. We should know by now there is no point in listening to Horner.

[paulguitar]

TheDeuce said:

To follow up this... Horner just confirmed during FP1 that vettel is definitely not going to RB, they are committed to Max and Albon. So Albon for next year is all but confirmed too - unless he screws up of course.

Not that it's too safe to ever trust anything that Horner says.

[TheDeuce]

paulguitar said:

TheDeuce said:

To follow up this... Horner just confirmed during FP1 that vettel is definitely not going to RB, they are committed to Max and Albon. So Albon for next year is all but confirmed too - unless he screws up of course.

Not that it's too safe to ever trust anything that Horner says.

Well.. anything can be revised of course! He was pretty direct and clear though.

[Muzzer79]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

TheDeuce said:

Seb back to RB...? Maybe that would make a grain of sense if RB were short on sponsors and if Albon wasn't looking so promising! But they're not short of sponsorship and Albon looks like a fantastic investment for the future.


I think most of these rumours come down to nothing more than people simply not wanting seb to leave.
Of course he DID meet with Horner and Marko so possibly something is going on.. it doesn't necessarily mean it's a seat in the car though. Or quite possibly it was just a social given he won them 4 titles and him (probably) leaving is big news to those close to him.

Id like to see him and max together actually, they’d make an entertaining team especially with Horner at the helm!

Albon? He’s Torro Rosso material at best. He’s a mile away from max on times and a couple of good safety car strategy decisions by his team does not a racing genius make.

Is he any closer to max in session times than Gasly was last year?

He’s also had two very good chances to win/podium now and binned both opportunities. In a car his team mate has consistently shown is capable of wins.

Bit harsh.

First incident was clearly Hamilton's error.

My gut reaction to last weekend was that Albon was a little impatient in his move, but Hamilton clearly got the penalty so it was at least 75/25.....

[paulguitar]

TheDeuce said:

paulguitar said:

TheDeuce said:

To follow up this... Horner just confirmed during FP1 that vettel is definitely not going to RB, they are committed to Max and Albon. So Albon for next year is all but confirmed too - unless he screws up of course.

Not that it's too safe to ever trust anything that Horner says.

Well.. anything can be revised of course! He was pretty direct and clear though.

One of the things I thought was notable on the 'Drive to Survive' documentary was how thoroughly dishonest Horner appears. It's as if he's a totally different person depending on to whom he is speaking.

[Muzzer79]

paulguitar said:

TheDeuce said:

paulguitar said:

TheDeuce said:

To follow up this... Horner just confirmed during FP1 that vettel is definitely not going to RB, they are committed to Max and Albon. So Albon for next year is all but confirmed too - unless he screws up of course.

Not that it's too safe to ever trust anything that Horner says.

Well.. anything can be revised of course! He was pretty direct and clear though.

One of the things I thought was notable on the 'Drive to Survive' documentary was how thoroughly dishonest Horner appears. It's as if he's a totally different person depending on to whom he is speaking.

He speaks to suit whatever agenda he has at the time.

Typical F1 team principal tactic, widely used through the years.

[paulguitar]

Muzzer79 said:

He speaks to suit whatever agenda he has at the time.

Typical F1 team principal tactic, widely used through the years.

Perhaps a career in politics awaits!

[kiseca]

glazbagun said:

kambites said:

It'll be interesting to see how close Albon can get to Verstappen this weekend when he's (presumably) got the same spec of car. He's not realistically going to be as quick as Verstappen but given Redbull's tendency to give drivers very little time to show that they deserve their seat, he needs to get closer. He probably also needs to improve his racecraft to avoid incidents when passing at the sharp end, but to be fair it took Verstappen several years to stop crashing into everyone.

I can't find the clip but I think it was 2018 when Max was defefending himself from journo's after he had spun/crashed so many races early seadon. He then brought it up after Vettel began his hapless trajectory.

I maintain that Max is great going forward and overly agressive going backwards. I also wonder if Lewis, so often sublime at pushing peiple just wide enough, has taken a leaf out of Max' book after his barging with LeClerc at Monza, to add a little apprehension in them.

Vettels decline is a mystery to me. Has he always been vulnerable when on a charge from the back and just requires more consistency vs Lewis in a Mercedes? I recall him having a nightmare race when he beat Alonso in 2012 and spinning under pressure from Button in Canada, but those are the only ones that stick in my k8nd from the Red Bull era.

I remember him a few times even in his championship winning years losing bits of front wing or getting other damage while trying to work his way up through the pack. Maybe it's just the 2012 race that I'm remembering the wing for, but he also lost control and binned it once trying to overtake Button. Took button off too if I recall, and his RB crash with Webber was very similar to his Brazil incident with LeClerc. All of those were in Red Bulls.

I think the clashes with other drivers have always been there, like he's not a great overtaker. The spins also have always been there. I think they are worse when he doesn't trust the back end of the car. He seems to need a very planted rear axle.

[anonymous-user]

Verstappen is very similar. Why pass cleanly when you can give them a bash at the same time?

[stemll]

TheDeuce said:

paulguitar said:

TheDeuce said:

To follow up this... Horner just confirmed during FP1 that vettel is definitely not going to RB, they are committed to Max and Albon. So Albon for next year is all but confirmed too - unless he screws up of course.

Not that it's too safe to ever trust anything that Horner says.

Well.. anything can be revised of course! He was pretty direct and clear though.

So that's Vettel confirmed at RB then. If Horner denies it directly, it must be happening

[Deesee]

kiseca said:

He seems to need a very planted rear axle.

Yep, which is why the 22 regs (back to front aero, planted rear like the red bull diffuser days) will suit him (if he's still about).

[Steamer]

Paul De'Resta just making the comment 'There will always be a place for a 4 time WDC.. even if Racing Point do already have two signed drivers'

Might mean something.. or nothing.

[TheDeuce]

Steamer said:

Paul De'Resta just making the comment 'There will always be a place for a 4 time WDC.. even if Racing Point do already have two signed drivers'

Might mean something.. or nothing.

For the right price (if he's affordable) I'm sure some teams would rudely eject a driver and take him. He's high profile and brings sponsor £££, good for some teams owner branding too perhaps.

Would surely all depend if the sums work.

[Muzzer79]

TheDeuce said:

Steamer said:

Paul De'Resta just making the comment 'There will always be a place for a 4 time WDC.. even if Racing Point do already have two signed drivers'

Might mean something.. or nothing.

For the right price (if he's affordable) I'm sure some teams would rudely eject a driver and take him. He's high profile and brings sponsor £££, good for some teams owner branding too perhaps.

Would surely all depend if the sums work.

Having one WDC on your CV, let alone 4 of them, always gets you favourability when looking for seats.

Having a WDC in your car attracts sponsorship, which people find hard to ignore.

Vettel appears to be in a Damon Hill-style situation though where he has that kudos, but no top line seats available to go to, for various reasons.

Aston Martin may actually suit him - Mercedes (so German) engines, good investment, decent little team for him. It could be a good place for him to get his head back together and re-group.

Questions are:

1. Is he willing to take at least a couple of years before being in a winning position

2. Are Aston Martin really serious about racing to the point where they'll eject the owner's son to bring in a driver with that kudos?

[ajprice]

Muzzer79 said:

2. Are Aston Martin really serious about racing to the point where they'll eject the owner's son to bring in a driver with that kudos?

Jr. has started working on his bottom lip ready for when his dad knocks on the door

[SmoothCriminal]

Why wouldn't they get rid of Perez he is hardly race winning material.