With a car that is no longer the dominant force in F1, we are going to see just how great a driver Sebastian Vettel is.
There are two schools of thought. There are some that think the young German is now the benchmark in F1. Then there are his detractors who insist that he is merely a good driver, who has benefited from a great car for the last couple of years.
It’s very often a champion’s performance in a car that isn’t the class of the field that tells us whether he is one of the true greats or not. If you look back at some of the greatest drivers in the sport’s history, very often it’s their performances in slower machinery which stand out.
The first two races of 2012 have certainly acted as a reality check for Vettel. This is a man who loves statistics and wants to break every record there is in F1. For the last couple of years he has had a car in which he has been able to work towards that goal, and indeed put his name next to some of those records.
All of a sudden he finds himself with a car which he can’t break more records in, which is a big come down after the last two and a half years. His reaction to the incident with Narain Karthikeyan was a sign of frustration at the situation more than anything else. He wants to win all the time. He doesn’t enjoy losing.
In 2010 his desire to win and always be on top sometimes ended up being his downfall. That was certainly the case in his collisions with team mate Mark Webber in Istanbul, and Jenson Button in Spa. He made hard work of a championship which he probably should have dominated, although a lack of reliability played its part too.
In 2011 he dominated like he should have done in 2010. He matured and regularly stuck the car on pole, and got himself into a position where he could control races. Although generally the RB7 was always the class of the field it must be said there were weekends where the pace advantage Red Bull enjoyed wasn’t that significant. There were races where he was under intense pressure.
Sebastian Vettel was simply stunning in 2011, taking 11 wins in 19 races.
However we still don’t really know whether he can challenge for wins from further back on the grid or regularly fight for victories with a car which isn’t quite the class of the field.
Last year Fernando Alonso told Sport.es: “The true Vettel we’ll see when he has a car capable of only sixth, if he gets it to be second, third or fourth, then fine, but until now we’ve only seen him in a car that won the championship with five races remaining. We must wait.”
After the first two races of 2012 it looks like we’re finally going to get these answers. McLaren are certainly just ahead of the rest of the pack with Red Bull amongst the likes of Lotus and Mercedes. A number of drivers could potentially win races at the moment.
If Vettel can still win races and mount a strong title challenge this year then there his no doubt his credit rating inside the paddock and among the fans will increase and he can cement his place as a great. If he ends up having a poor season then his detractors will have plenty of ammunition to fire at him, and doubts will start to creep into his admirer’s minds.
Many still rate Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton as the best two drivers in F1 despite Sebastian’s success, including Flavio Briatore who told Corriere dello Sport: “Imagine a race with everyone racing the same car; Vettel would be behind Fernando Alonso and also Lewis Hamilton.”
One of the big reasons for this popular opinion is what Fernando and Lewis have been able to achieve when they have had cars which haven’t been the class of the field.
More respected? Lewis Hamilton managed to win in Hungary despite not having the quickest car.
In 2010 Alonso was leading the championship going into the final race of the year despite only having the third fastest car in the field. In 2011, in a car which was comfortably behind McLaren and Red Bull, he still managed to finish on the podium ten times.
If you look at the first two races this season the performance he has managed to extract in one of the worst Ferraris we have seen for some time has been absolutely incredible.
Despite not winning a title since 2006 (which seems a long time ago now) these types of performances have ensured that Alonso still remains the best driver in F1 in many people’s eyes.
In 2009 McLaren spent a large part of the season a long way off the pace. However Hamilton drove the wheels off the car all season long and still managed to win two races against the odds, and didn’t need rain to achieve it.
Sebastian’s idol Michael Schumacher is another example of a champion proving his greatness in lesser machinery. The first Ferrari he drove in 1996 was certainly far from being a great car.
Despite the limitations of his car he taught all of his rivals a lesson in wet weather driving in Barcelona, where he won by over 45 seconds. He managed to win a further two races and managed to start on pole position four times.
In 1997 he went toe to toe with Jacques Villeneuve all season long despite the fact the Williams was the quicker car. Just a shame how it all ended at the season finale in Jerez.
Schumacher takes victory in the 2003 US GP to wrap up his sixth title (© Ferrari).
When people look back at Schumacher’s Ferrari titles, its 2000 and 2003 which are rated as his best because he had to fight tooth and nail for them. In 2000 he had a season long battle with his great rival Mika Hakkinen who had a very fast McLaren that year. In 2003 he had a car with poor Bridgestones whilst McLaren and Williams were very competitive.
Jenson Button is currently establishing himself as a great in a different way in performing well against a very highly rated team mate in Hamilton. Arguably he is driving better now than he did in his championship year.
On the other hand you look back at Villeneuve and once he found himself in a slower car in his years at BAR, he never did anything out of the ordinary, apart from the odd podium. This plus the fact he made hard work of his 1997 title has made him stand out as one of the worst world champions in the opinion of many F1 followers.
After the first two rounds of 2012 we have seen two different glimpses of how Sebastian’s season may turn out.
In Melbourne he had a brilliant mature drive from sixth on the grid to finish second behind Button. His drive included an audacious overtaking move around the outside of Nico Rosberg. No matter what happens that’s bound to be among the top ten overtakes of the year.
It was like the Sebastian we saw at Toro Rosso who punched above his weight.
A young Vettel takes his first victory in 2008 with Toro Rosso (© Getty Images).
In Malaysia we saw the 2010 Vettel who got involved in an incident (admittedly Karthikeyan was more at fault) and acted immaturely in the aftermath.
Over the next few races we will soon establish which of these will be the Vettel we see during the season. If the one we saw in Australia turns up to every race then he could have a very impressive season despite a less dominant car and really establish himself as a great.
This year we are going to see exactly where Vettel stands amongst the other five world champions on the grid, and also where he stands against the greatest the champions no longer on the grid.
It should be remembered though that he is still only 24. One average season wouldn’t do too much damage to his hopes and aspirations.
Although it was said that Hamilton and Alonso were still young and would win plenty more titles after their championship triumphs. However both are now experiencing title droughts.
It’s not an easy task to spend a large enough portion of your career in the right place to win a large haul of titles, especially with the sheer competitiveness of F1 in the current era.
Schumacher’s long run of quick Ferraris in the 2000s is an anomaly rather than a regular occurrence in F1.
Seeing Vettel’s progress in 2012 is just one of the many intriguing stories that are already developing after the first two races of the year.
In this writer’s opinion he should use this year as the perfect opportunity to prove his detractors wrong and elevate his status further.
