We don’t want that dipstick in the car, we need someone that can race in the thick of things - Ricciardo, Alonso, Max will do, NOT Elton Forza Ferrari..... the only racing team and car marque that matters. Italia forever It’s easier to apologise than it is to ask permission
No team but Mercedes will win a championship during the current turbo-hybrid formula. They have been toying with the entire field since 2014 and will until the rules are changed, they have had an insurmountable built in competitive advantage that cannot be overcome. Vettel is driving with desperation, but it would not matter any way. This turbo-hybrid era will always have an asterisk for me.
I kinda agree, but Vettel had a fair shot at winning @ Ferrari at least once, and he grossly bungled it with his unforced errors and at the time he had a clear #2 in Kimi.
So I have been a staunch Vettel fan for a while now, and have been hoping for his former brilliance. I'm now over it. I think he needs to go. Something is just wrong, and I think he's just "over it" ... he's still a great driver but Ferrari has just grinded him into powder. He's just not driving well, and needs to hang it up.
Arguably Vettel's time at Ferrari has proven how overrated he truly is, but WITHOUT A SHRED OF A DOUBT his time at Ferrari has proven he is a driver who can only win from the front...but in recent seasons, he can't even pull off that trump card, so ya, he needs to go. He's been shown up by 2 rookies in 2 different teams, where both teams have supported him as the clear #1...
Ive been saying it for years... when he was at red bull. He can't pass. Don't get me wrong he could pass me in a shopping cart if I was in an FXX. . Im just saying passing in F1 is tough and he never really got to experience that before becoming champion. He was fortunate to be in a great car and dominated and through this missed out on some of the fundamentals. Again, we are talking about rarefied air.
It’s also revealed critical weaknesses in the team. Vettel and Ferrari have mutually failed each other. As easy as it is to point fingers there is no single party to blame. Red Bull were able to manage Vettel well. Mercedes can very effectively manage Elton who was equally or more fragile than Vettel. Remember when Elton couldn’t drive because Nicole Shertzinger left him. Ferrari don’t know how to give him an environment that he will thrive in.
I've also felt the same. I think sometimes you need a specific 'combination' for a driver to thrive. That said, I think Ferrari needs to spend rest of season figuring out what those problems/issues are and resolve them. Use this year as a learning launchpad for next year.
Exactly... it is not only a question of the driver but also of the environment. NONE of the current driver is immune to this, be it Lewis, Bottas, Vettel, Max, Ricci or even Leclerc. They all need the atmosphere to be 100% supported
I don´t know what Vettel needs to feel "comfortable" at Ferrari: he´s payed a lot, Binotto said that he´s still number one after screwing it up many times, he´s never been spanked in public (drivers rarely are spanked in public by their teams, but not the other way around --> drivers=jerks). So I don´t buy that stuff of "he doesn´t feel confortable at Ferrari". Probably he didn´t felt comfortable at Red Bull with Ricciardo around either, so what does he need to feel comfortable? I don´t know. My hypothesis: the problem is that Vettel won too much too early. He´s not used to frustration and struggle, so gets impatient with every problem. His first year at Ferrari was quite remarkable: the expectations were low, so there wasn´t a big pressure. His brain started to go south in 2016: the expectations were higher but the season was worse than the previous one, not for his fault, but his frustation started to rise: the torpedo, **** off Charlie and so on... 2017 was better but I honestly don´t think he had a real chance of winning: the car had a perfomance slump in the final part of the season and reliability problems. Yet Vettel had some cock ups like the Singapore fiasco that put part of the blame on him. And then in 2018, with already real pressure, he made mistakes and started to overdo things (Monza, Austin...) wich led to more mistakes and the snowball started to grow till the present day. Somehow he reminds me of the Hamilton who was constantly crashing with Massa with no reason, in one of his latest seasons at McLaren. He needs some rest and reset the brain. The problem is that you can´t do that at a top team, so either he moves to another place or accepts that his time has passed and uses a "joie de vivre" approach like Raikkonen. Probably his results won´t be better and will earn less, but at least he will be more consistent. And he will be happier.
Ferrari should withdraw from F1 for the rest of the season, and perform testing every single day until the test ban begins for the following season. test engines test aero test brakes test suspension test chassis test test test...
They can´t withdraw from the season neither do free testing. They can concentrate on next year´s car, probably something that they´ve already done.
You know they can't do that, don't you? So why saying it? Like all the other teams, Ferrari is Under contract to perform at each GP on the calendar. They get paid a lot of money for it too, even if they don't satisfy the tifosi.
I interpreted Mitch as saying withdraw in spirit. Which I wouldn't doubt they've already done. Basically go through the motion for "practice", but abandon all efforts for a championship this year and focus everything for next. Just what I would do.
I guess Alonso was right to leave; Ferrari hasn't won any championship since he left. I guess his haters can't pin Ferrari's lack of performance on him anymore either...Vettel's 5-yr stewardship has amounted to diddly squat lol.
You can be 'supported' but when you lack race craft its only matter of time before you fail. The time with Ricci was telling in its expose on Seb's lack of capability with close battle driving. Its not ever changed and more exposed by his battles with Max and LH and others. He is lucky to have ever won a title at all. His mistakes are not the team lacking a support structure. Certainly not under Binotto. He was already told he was the priority before testing. He is not in the same category as FA and others. He is good. Not at all great.
Opinion from another site -- I think the summer break cant come fast enough for Vettel, he has the look of a man who the sky is falling down on right now. If he’s still phoning it in after the summer break, then I think he is done at Ferrari. Problem is, where does he go from there? Right now I dont think either Mercedes or Red Bull would want him, even if Hamilton does leave Mercedes, they have their own hot young things in the wings and Vettel is currently in the process of being overhauled by Ferrari’s own version… and if he can’t keep Leclerc quiet in the same car, what chance does he have against Max? The errors when battling under pressure are now past the point of coincidence too, Hamilton has had Vettel mentally parked for a year or 2 now, and now Max is getting to the same point. You can’t consistently beat your peers when they know all they have to do is keep it tight and wait for the error to come.