What is the worst car Vettel can still win the WDC with?

Impossible to compare different eras man; cars are totally different now. But one thing is clear: he made Webber look like he was driving a Marussia car today, and with the same car (Webber actually had the faster qualifying car, in case anybody has any doubt about the car's ability). It was all about the drivers today. THAT is what you can compare him against. And Webber didn't have any excuses this time, so simply 'bowed' to the champion. He finally came to terms he was the victim of unfortunate timing, and that Vettel is one-in-a-generation driver, and can't blame him for winning. And he seemed even friendly with Vettel today. Now he's behaving like a great driver, because admitting defeat gracefully is certainly not easy for top drivers. But after 4 years, it was about time. Wish Webber well; he was a very nice guy, but that went away when he started getting beat by his rookie teammate. Now that he's leaving, he's getting back to his own self. Great to see that.

 

Webber had a terrible start which ruined his race and pit stop strategy. His lap times were completely competitive with Vettel's once Mark was in clear air. Vettel is just being amplified because Webber is such a poor starter and has been sloppy in general for some 3 seasons now. Newey is the genius on that team, Vettel could not do what Fernando did with F2012 nor pulled out the wins both mclaren drivers did in the past 2-3 years when against such a dominant machine that Newey put together.

Vettel better grab with both hands his chance to eventually leave and really make his mark on F1 by proving he can be a champion elsewhere. He will always be in Schumacher's shadow otherwise.

 

The way he's been driving lately? This one.
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Webber's Red Bull since it breaks down all the time : ) A few Vettel DNF;'s would have kept things more exciting : )

 

Ricciardo is going to match up to Vettel better than people think...

 

It's impossible to say. Those late 90s cars were harder to drive.

I doubt he could have done better than Alonso in the F2012. He could barely best him in a car far superior.

 

having the fastest car in clean air is all Vettel needs.

 

I think you'd hear the same from every driver on the grid!

 

The RB9.

 

Seriously. This.

If you have the fastest car & clean air, why shouldn't you win?

 

I 'unno, having an exhaust blown diffuser, but without off throttle exhaust blowing, has to make for a pretty exciting drive.

 

Based on 2013 cars and assuming he's only competing against one Red Bull equipped with Webber as driver, then you'd have to say he'd be in with a chance of WDC in any of this years top 3 alternates- ie Merc, Ferrari or Lotus.

 

Why do you think that?

 

F1 has had the same driver's shuffling for a long time, except for lower tier pay drivings running out of money, and getting replaced by another lower teir pay driver with new money.

Red Bull is being different in cycling in new drivers. Cars aren't what they used to, its quite Obvious that Vettel is handing it to the older school. Either Vettel is super good, or doesn't have a set of habits that do not suit today's rules. If the second is a large part of it, then they will be closer.

I think Vettel could of won the title in last year's Ferrari. Probably the year before that's Ferrari as well. TBH, its hard to know, as engineers/drivers have to be able to get along and share info on where they need to be. A driver can lead the engineers into a place that doesn't work, even with the best engineers around.

 

I am curious to see what Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Alonzo, etc could do in a Marussia. Those guys are always at the bottom. It can't be just the car being that bad. Or can it? Would Pic be a top 10 finisher in a Red Bull?

 

Well, an example of what Vettel could do with a lesser car was when he was at
Toro Rosso at Monza. It was not the fastest car, right? An yet he could maximize
what he could do with such a car. Very similar to Schummy when he started at Jordan.
Sometimes it is not the car itself. Now, that he has the best car, well, there you go.
Schummy also exploited that at Ferrari.

 

Just a hunch. Much more hunger than Webber.

 

I think that Kid Index could win in the Ferrari, the Lotus, and the Mercedes of this year.

Everything else is just a moving backmarker.

 

Not certain about that, though I'd love to see it. The Red Bull is built by Newey, but around Vettel...it's a custom fit for his driving style and part of the reason why he's so much more comfortable in it than Webber. Babaloo will be faced with a similar challenge in trying to adjust his driving style to beat Seb in a car that was built around Vettel's.

 

A race? Sure, so could Alonso, Hamilton, Kimi, etc. The title? No ****ing way could Vettel win the title if he was driving the Ferrari, Merc or Lotus and someone like FA was in the Red Bull.

2013 has been Vettel's finest year by far, IMO. Flawless pretty much. 2012 was pretty weak on his part to barely edge out Alonso, who was driving a much worse car.

 

I'd bet that Ricciardo will score a greater points haul relative to Vettel than Webber has managed to do this year. Do I think DR will beat Seb? No, only an idiot would think that, but Ricciardo is fast, young and hungry. A Red Bull product from the start. Seb will no longer be the young gun in the team. It will be interesting to watch the dynamic between the two.

 

You're assuming that only Webber would be driving...yes, I'd agree. Conversely, Hamilton, Kimi or Alonso could win this year if you take Seb out of the picture.

Swapping Seb with one of those three would be far more interesting. I don't believe he'd have a chance if one of those three were in the RB...in fact, I'd add Nico and Jensen to that list also.

 

Mark certainly made enough errors and seemed to have a tough time passing slower cars, so that I will agree with. Who knows...if Ricciardo is able to adapt his style to mirror Seb's (I do not know what their differences are), maybe he could be this year's Hamilton vs Alonso at McLaren. I wouldn't bet on it though.