Vettel to sit out US Qualifying

It seems Vettel has munched through his five PUs. Apparantly a new PU (all six elements) require the car to start from pit lane, so they are going to do that.

As a result they intend to skip qualy altogether to put less mileage onto the system. It will be exciting to see him come through the field from the back, as sad as it is for him as a driver.

Does anyone with rules-knowledge know why he doesn't need to fulfill the 107%? It seems silly to have cars sit out the entire Saturday purposefully as a result of PU change.

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2014/10/vettel-to-miss-us-gp-qualifying-slams-stupid-engine-rules-as-mateschitz-vetoes-ferrari-test/

 

He can make a good argument that he has been well inside the 107% rule all year long.

It seems silly to have the kind of engine rules F1 currently has, too.

 

Well that sucks!

Guess he's getting fed up with having his doors blown off by Smiley Boy!

Seriously, this is BS. I haven't checked recently, but suspect they'll all be sitting out come the Abu Dhabi nonsense...... That could cause a little embarrassment for them....... First the double points crap and then nobody goes out....... Woot!

Cheers,
Ian

 

He will not get to attend the Ferrari test either:

Meanwhile Dietrich Mateschitz has said that he won’t release Vettel to test for Ferrari at the Abu Dhabi test after the final race of the season, the Red Bull boss confirming that Vettel will be released on the 28th November, thus missing the two-day test on November 25th and 26th.

“Five days after the last race, Sebastian will be free.” said Mateschitz who also revealed to Speedweek, a magazine owned by Red Bull, that Vettel will also not have the latest technical updates in the final three races.

“But this won’t mean he will have worse equipment than Ricciardo” he added.

The news means that Vettel’s first opportunity to drive for Ferrari will be at Jerez next February.
“Sometimes you need to change. We wish him the best. It’s a mutual split and it’s the best thing for both sides,” added the Red Bull owner.

I never liked Red Bull anyway...it tastes awful.

 

Brilliant question about the 107% rule.

The FIA should make him participate. He could do Q1 and be done

 

Red Bull is good with vodka when you are gambling all night, or so I've been told....

 

Chicken ****. Newey created a great car, but Vettel is what made it a winner and won eight championships. This tells me the split is less than harmonious.

BTW, what could Red Bull do if Vettel tests in breach of his contract? Hold back his last paycheck(s)? Maybe Seb tells them to stick and tests the Ferrari anyway.

I remember 2003 when Valentino Rossi left Honda and they refused to allow him to test the Yamaha before his contract ended on 12/31/03. Rossi was not able to test until the winter tests in January, he responded by winning the championship in his first year on the Yamaha, and in 2005 too.

 

Mandate the most complex power trains ever?

Mandate the most draconian engine usage rules ever in the first year for the new engines!

Some more great logic from our friends at the FIA.

 

^^This^^

I also agree that the split must have some hair on it. Maybe Vettel whined too much about Ricciardo beating him and just twisted off. I wonder? Hard to believe that RB would want to ditch him but the statement is that it was mutually agreed upon. Guess they both got sick of each other. Easier for RB when Vettel isn't the No 1 driver anymore. What have you done for me lately means LATELY! I am surprised that Vettel can't match Ricciardo in pace and results. I would never have guessed that possible coming into this season.

I wonder what Alonso will be doing next year? I cannot imagine that he would sit out. He has a contract with Ferrari, no? Won't that have to be bought out and/or paid by Ferrari?

Excuse me if I am a bit confused. I'm still guessing that he will be at McLaren.

 

This entire testing business... or lack thereof is horse****. You have a new driver who can't drive the ****ing car for four months? That's ridiculous.

The whole engine limits thing is bs as well. This year especially should have been more relaxed given the unkowns with the new PU's.

 

He can establish a competitive time in practice to prove he is inside the 107% rule. This is used legitimately when a car blows up at the beginning of qualy for instance.

 

If I was vettel and redbull tells me a 4 time champ that I was going to get a crap car I would run one lap and park the car . I don't understand how redbull can have a someone like this running it's f1 team . This type of crap is only hurting f1 in the USA when redbull says we don't want to win . Engine rules are a complete joke FIA now has the most expensive power plant ever in f1 that you can not improve . If you are a major company like mercedes or honda it's a waste of time and money to race in F1 if you can't show the world your great you engines can be

 

Impo redbull hates to send money on driver's and they might have pulled the plug on vettel because they could get another for pennies on the dollar . If redbull where looking for great drivers there is several quick guys in the pit lane but they have never talked to anyone about driving the cans . Once ldm was know to fired wich was early in the years probably they knew vettel was leaving to a big team because ferrari was going to hire Hamilton vettel they said f vettel .how many teams have giving up working on the 2015 cars because AMG mercedes was untouchable this year and redbull was not going to make new stuff to help vettel

 

Abu Dhabi will be the last race anybody sits out of qualy. No one wants to start last for a double points race. They will take their penalties strategically in the coming 2 races if they think they need to take one

 

Its in the name of saving money and being green......

 

They could have saved money by not going to this level of engine esoteric engine design. There was no need to completely reconfigure the nose or the rear wing for that matter.

"Make the cars harder to drive"

That's just stupid to me. Clearly anyone saying that haven't seen all the buttons and **** they push while driving. Look is Nico... he may have blown that turn fiddling with his buttons at one of the most critical moments of the race.

I'd rather the cars be at the cutting edge where the drivers are required to output 100% precision 100% of the time. I don't want to see the cars sliding and snapping around the track. I'd rather see precision driving where you blow the apex and it's going to cost you big time... or if you don't carry the right lines through the s curves.

It's just gotten dumb at this point. They save money all the wrong ways. There was nothing wrong the chassis of last year. They could have just went with that as a base rather than having to redesign everything. Sure it would've been differnt due to the engine but they didn't have to go to such extremes... then lock them down so no one can fix mistakes. It's just silly now.

 

That just sounds funny, well to me at least..

Vettel the Honey badger

 

Uhm, that is the confirmation that he goes to Ferrari, right?

 

Certainly appears so without saying so

 

Pretty disrespectful of Mateschitz, Marco and Horner to make that announcement IMO

Says a lot, if you think about it.

 

Possibly an indication of what we dont know about 'the great' relationship Horner mentioned in the press about Vettel leaving

 

yup...that's what I reckon.

sour grapes by them...really poor form.

 

How does RB officially confirm a move made by another team?

 

I initially thought the same. But then I thought about it some more & decided why the hell should they give Ferrari a head start? He's obviously under contract thru that date, stick to it. Further, he'd be driving the 2014 car, not the new one.

I agree some of the stuff they've said, and more the 'way' they've said it, suggests sour grapes, but few separations are 'friendly' if we're honest.

Cheers,
Ian
PS - this of course assumes he is indeed going to Ferrari......

 

I'm not talking about the testing issue. I completely agree with that, actually. I mean the announcing by them that Vettel is going to Ferrari.