The Dean

Search for that piece about Vettel when he was ten years old......... everyone knew way back then how good he was.............

norsk

I'm not saying he's not good. You don't get a seat in F1 without being a bloody good driver, but what I am claiming is that there are others who are a level above him...

The Dean

He's as good as Schumacher at the same stage of his career.............

Autonomy

How I wish an old poster was still here... SYB......

Inselaffen

he'd still be praising Kimi!

after the last bit of Ferrari cheating I hope Alonso doesn't win it!

captainflack

I don't really have a problem with what they did at this point in the season. It makes perfect sense, and the rules are the rules, so it's perfectly fair to use them to your advantage. I do have a problem with the fact they do this kind of thing right from the start of the season. No other team has team orders from the start; Kimi, Schumacher, Hamilton and even Vettel are all expected to race their team-mates. So it's fair to say, much as Alonso has driven well, he has not 'beaten' the only other guy in the same car, whereas Vettel has.

Have to say, the circuit is a classic in my opinion. In particular, some of the corners are extremely wide, which means drivers can take very different lines through them to overtake... and many times we saw two cars alongside each other both getting through the corners. That added to the rather slippery surface makes even a dry race quite exciting. I hope they don't resurface the track for more grip next year because of complaints from the drivers. Rather than have deliberately flaky tyres, it would be much better to have better durable tyres like we had at this race, and a surface with poor grip. This race was exciting even though tyre wear was not an issue and pretty much everyone only stopped once. We got to see some real racing and not just passing during pitstops.

scrubbedexpat141

I agree, to a point. I think it's a bit wrong to be able to manipulate the grid and make other drivers lose out on the better grip and grid position by moving them to the less favourable side of the track.

captainflack

I think F1 has changed rather too much since those days. I think it was Schumacher trying to take out Jacques Villeneuve in 97 that did it. As I recall, he was disqualified from the championship or lost all his points (fortunately he busted his car and not Villeneuves, so the right guy won even without that intervention). So they set the precedent that you cannot win a title with a move like that, which is a good thing in my opinion. Brazil is always exciting and I'd not want it to end on the first corner. Let's have some rain 10 laps from the end to sort the field out.

captainflack

I can see the argument, I just think it is difficult to police. You'd have to have the FIA overseeing why a team is breaking the seal, whereas now the situation is much clearer. I don't have a problem with it, as long as the rule is consistent so if another team does similar next year, they don't get penalized.

I was a little surprised RB didn't bump webber down from 3rd to 8th with a similar trick. Alonso would have then been promoted to 6th but on dirty side of grid, with webber right behind him (also on dirty side). Grosjean would have been 7th, on the clean side of the grid. And we know what he is like with first corner/lap accidents... Play Ferrari at their own game.

scrubbedexpat141

True, consistency is key.

That would have been utterly brilliant! Wish they'd done it. Still, 13 point gap now so Vettel needs to do what Hamilton did in Brazil a few years back, finish in a decent position and the title is his.

Inselaffen

Ferrari have made it clear they waited until the last possible moment to do it in order to prevent RB from doing the same.

I'd love it if Webber took out Alonso the first corner.

scrubbedexpat141

I'd love it if Massa did that. Or Hamilton, just to wind up the knobhead.

rowell

Makes for an interesting finale

shiva

you do, the scrutineering teams oversee everything the teams do, its why they knew in Abu Dhabi that vettel had run out of fuel despite the team telling them renault had said it was an engine problem so stop the car. the scrutineers had watched them put fuel in and take it out all day in an attempt to confuse them but the guys kept count properly so he was asked for a fuel sample they knew he'd be light on.

all part of the game between the teams, each other and the officials

The_Citizen

Vettel is a fantastic driver in my opinion, but if he stays with Red Bull for the majority of his career then nobody will know just how good he is!

I don't want him to move to Ferrari but another top team would be good and see how he fares then! Kimi and Vettel at Lotus would be fun.