I do understand your previous response - my point is that why does Vettel have to be compared to just Senna to be considered great?
Let me put it another way - Alain Prost is considered an F1 great. But he certainly didn't/doesn't have the spark Senna did.
I'm referring to the general opinion here, not each of our own preferrences - the commonly agreed F1 greats usually include people such as Senna, Fangio, Clark, Prost, Schumacher, etc. What I'm asking is why Vettel continues to be considered not among these drivers and why people have to keep coming up with ridiculous reasons.
And as for Senna's mythical status - I have watched a good deal of old footage, read many opinions of him and feel I have a pretty good understanding why he is considered so brilliant. I'm not saying he wasn't brilliant and one of the greatest drivers ever. I do however feel that like any person who is considered the best ever, his talents and achievements do get exaggerated to the extreme.
Obviously its difficult for me to really appreciate Senna completely as I was way too young to have been there to see it live. But judging by how Schumacher has become an exaggerated legend and from I remember of his early career, I can only come to the same conclusion that people's memories become a little rosey with time. Though obviously Schumacher is a different driver entirely and some people remember perfectly well but just choose to ignore/forget things, I still feel there are some who remember a different Senna than what actually happened.
Certainly the way he is described by some doesn't match the footage and opinions from the time.
Anyway, the Senna stuff is for another thread.
At the end of the day, Vettel is world champion and fully deserves it. I guess we should all focus on that, rather than dis-respecting or de-valuing Vettel's achievements by instead referring to other people.
Last edited: Oct 13, 2011