Vettel: I have the best car. We don't fear any track.

When Hamilton said Ferrari had the best car (Belgian GP: Lewis Hamilton says Ferrari have best 2017 car | F1 News), people said it was because he wanted the credit to himself. It serves him to say that Ferrari have the best car, so that any win Merc get, Hamilton can attribute it to his driving.

But now Vettel is saying as much: https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/vettel-ora-la-ferrari-e-fantastica-non-temiamo-piu-nessuna-pista-945918/

" I have the best car. We don't fear any track."

When the SC came on, and both VET and Hamilton pitted for new tires, VET went with Ultra Softs, while Hamilton went for Softs. The Ultras have 1.5 seconds advantage on the Softs. Yet, VET couldn't challenge Hamilton neither on the restart, nor at the closing stages when Hamilton built his advantage from ~1s to a wooping ~2.5 seconds by the end of the race.

So, despite all of that, VET says he has the best car. The implication is that he concedes HAM is the better driver.

 

+2.358s


Hamilton was 0.063s per lap faster than Vettel on average through the first stint on ultra-softs, but Vettel enjoyed a 0.099s edge during the middle stint on soft tyres. During the final sprint to flag after the safety car restart, with Hamilton on soft tyres and Vettel on ultra-softs, Hamilton was 0.181s per lap faster.

 

Or simple that Vettel tries to express confidence...what is the alternative? Saying that the Ferrari does not match the Mercedes and that all is lost if the Mercedes does not break down?
What does a better tyre help if you do not get by on the DRS straights because you lack engine power?

 

This

 

Absolutely. On race pace the ferrari was the strongest package, but that's no good once you are in second off the grid, without the additional power to complete a pass. Elton in the Mercedes couldn't pass Kimi the other week for exactly that reason, not enough power to make the final pass, did it mean automtically Kimi is the better driver of the two ? (Nowadays probably not quite as he has matured, it years ago Kimi would've steamed through elton on his way to the vodka bar! Haha)

 

Were Vettel's ultra soft tyres new or had some laps given in practice or qualify?

 

What benefits can Ferrari have with respect to power with the low consumption of oil from Italy GP?
Is Ferrari going to present an evolution of engine in Italy?

 

"PURPLE VS. YELLOW


Hamilton had planned to run to the end of the race on the set of soft compound tires he got on his first stop. But now he was forced to pit with the rest of the drivers for new tires.

Vettel had a **new set of ultra soft Pirellis** (with the purple sidewalls) left over from qualifying, so he had those fitted to his Ferrari. Hamilton did not, so he had to use the soft compound tires with the yellow sidewalls, which were only new tires he had left. In theory that should have given Vettel the advantage on the restart and the final laps. But Hamilton hung on to the lead and went on to win.

"I knew that we had a tire advantage with the ultra soft versus the soft, for the first couple of laps in particular," Vettel said. "So you could also see, exiting Turn 1, I was all over Lewis. It was not that hard to follow so close and maybe that was the problem. My restart in the initial part was too good. I was too close, so for sure if I had to do it again maybe I would try something different."

 

No, that's you're incorrect interpretation of what Vettel is saying - Nowhere in that article does Vettel even suggest that he thinks Hamilton is the better driver!

What he does suggest is that, overall, in general, he believes the Ferrari is a better car than the Mercedes, but he does state that his car is lacking a bit of horsepower to the Mercedes, and says that that is why the Mercedes managed to stay ahead of him on the long Kemmel straight.

Now My interpretation of that is, he doesn't believe the Mercedes stayed ahead of him due to Hamilton being a better driver, he believes the Mercedes stayed ahead purely due to being faster in a straight line (something that takes very little driver skill to achieve!).


I think you're also misreading the gap to Hamilton at the end of the race.

Once Vettel realised he could not get past Hamilton along the Kemmel straight, what would have been the point in staying right on the back of Hamilton's Mercedes, in all of that dirty air?

All it would have done is raise the engine temps in Seb's car, and cause him to have to work a lot harder for second place as a result of fighting the front end of his Ferrari due to a lack of front end grip, caused by the Mercedes ahead "stealing the air from his car".

Once the win was out of the question, Vettel did the smart thing and sat back out of the Mercedes' wake, protecting his own car.

 

Over on F1.com, Hamilton states that after SC came off, he breathed off the throttle and had Vettel almost tag him at Radion. Vettel had to back off, and by this time, Merc power out dragged Vettel up the Kemmel straight.

 

No he doesn't have the best car. If you can't take pole you don't - Mercs Q3 engine boost is what will decide this championship. Track position is everything this season. Unless we can pass Mercs at the start we won't be winning many more races because passing them on track deep in a stint is almost impossible considering their straight line speed and how much dirty air the 2017 cars generate.

Fingers cross for an engine upgrade in Monza

 

thats how I read it.

agreed.

 

I think Mercedes had the better car. Remember Vettel said if he did not get a tow from Kimi in qualifying he would have been 4-5/10 off the pace. Vettel was loosing all his time in sector 1 and 3, but made up time in sector 2 which was the middle of the track, tighter corners. Mercedes just has alot more power.

 

Just a few points in adition: although Lewis was unhappy with the SC because it gave Seb another chance to attack at the end he might have been lucky to get one to change tyres as the Mercedes guys noticed blisters on his rear.
When staying in front of Seb after the restart it was partly because he lifted in Eau Rouge to get Seb real close and on the other side because he was in the wrong engine mode before. The first might be clever but I doubt anyone will give him credit for the first part
Or does one think he is a better driver because he has chosen the wrong engine mode???

 

Vettel will lose in Monza because the "inferior Mercedes" does better on the faster tracks.

 

Ferrari and Seb are bluffing! They don't have the better car. Elton was playing with Seb like a cat with a mouse. Keeping him just out of DRS, and why would he have to pull away? The engine (which was it's first time) still has to last a while . Where as Seb will get penalties by the end of the season.
I am NOT at all a fan of Hamilton, but he drove a very clever race.
Seb missed horsepower and balls.

 

Exactly.

The "best" car gets pole.

The rest is just talk.

 

Mercedes has been sandbagging for YEARS

Every time someone gets close to them or it's in qualifying they always seem to be able to find that extra half second.

A few software changes and bingo -- instant speed.

 

Vettel "will" lose in Monza?


Most people were predicting Mercedes dominance for Spa, but it was much closer with Ferrari than anyone suspected it would be, and one of the "inferior Mercedes" couldn't do any better than 5th, finishing behind a Red Bull, and a Ferrari that had had to serve a 10 second stop/go penalty (without which, would have most likely finished 3rd).

Ferrari ran a reasonable amount more down-force than Mercedes in Spa, and could still (just about) stay with the Mercedes in a straight line.

At Monza, there's less need for any down-force for any of the cars, so the Ferrari and Mercedes cars should be quite evenly matched on that side of things, unlike at Spa.

Yes, on paper the Mercedes should have the edge due to having slightly more power, but considering how close it was at Spa, there's actually no guarantee of that, and it could be a lot closer than some, including yourself, are predicting!

Looking to the next race on the UK's Channel 4 Spa coverage after the race, Toto Wolff said he had noted just how good the Ferrari was on the brakes.

He said that from the first Barcelona test, and throughout all of the races, he'd noted that the Ferrari's braking from high speed was exceptional, and much better than their own, and said that that could be a major factor at Monza with it's big stops.

He said that although people were expecting Monza to be a "Mercedes" track, he wasn't so confident, and thinks it will be close, especially between Hamilton and Vettel.

 

I know this is a Ferrari forum, and it's a touchy subject, hence the nature of the replies so far. Here's another piece:

2017 Belgian Grand Prix report | Motor Sport Magazine

Mark Hughes, one of the most trusted F1 journalists, added in the comments:

 

Hamilton cleaned Ferrari's clock at Spa. Seb couldn't beat him on better tires. And he was helped by the safety car which without it would have made it a run away.

It's going to be tough to stop Hamilton from winning the WDC and the WCC is out of the question

Not impossible for Seb but really, really tough

 

All they have to do the etch away at Elton's fragile emotional state and his driving will suffer. Vettel mental and emotional strength and consistency gives him the edge.

 

It is his Achilles heal. But Bottas will not push that button.

 

Having Google'd this, I see it basically means he trounced Ferrari.

Sorry, but I didn't see Hamilton trounce Ferrari in Spa! (at least not in Vettel's case).

I saw Vettel all but match Hamilton throughout the race and keep him honest and on his toes. Hamilton wasn't cruising at any point during the race, and he didn't finish 30~40 seconds ahead of Vettel at the end - The gap was @ 2.8 seconds, and that was mainly due to Vettel backing off.

Hamilton ran less down-force than the Ferrari (as demonstrated by the mid-sector times), and so had better straight-line speed to fend off Vettel.

On the re-start, coming in to Eau Rouge, Hamilton lifted off to cause Seb to have to back off, and then used the Mercedes' superior straight-line speed to fend off Seb's delayed attack into Les Combes.

As with all modern F1 cars, once in the dirty air behind another car, better tyres or not, Seb was fighting the front end of his car whilst staying on Hamilton's gearbox. After a couple of laps, the tyres started to suffer and it was game over.

The Mercedes is recognised by most to be the best car on track (despite Hamilton's lame claims to the contrary), but just look how s:censored:t that car is when it's stuck behind another car. The Ferrari works better than the Mercedes behind other cars, but it's not immune to being affected.

Actually, just before the safety car came out, Hamilton had a blister developing in the centre of his right rear tyre that was starting to concern his team.

Toto Wolff said after the race that, the safety car coming out allowed them to change the tyres, which may well have saved Lewis' race, as they were concerned the blisters may have got worse and caused a failure. The blisters showed that Hamilton was having to push hard throughout the race.

Vettel's Ferrari on the other hand was not developing blisters.

Without the safety car, there's a good chance that Vettel would have been on the top step instead of Hamilton.

Be all doom and gloom and give up if that's what you want - I for one was actually quite impressed with how close Vettel managed to run Hamilton in Spa, and think he can take this Championship right down to wire! - Time will tell!

 

This is correct...those cars are fairly evenly matched and neither will pass the other on a straight. Merc is said to have a power advantage, but I noticed Ferrari always had the higher top speeds at different sectors of the circuit the during the race. Honestly, I had a hard time reconciling why Seb was clocked at 319 km/h with Ham at 312 km/h but he wasn't gaining (DRS was not in play yet).

Of course, we know the answer is dirty air, but still...