Why So Many Vettel Haters?

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When I first started watching F1 in 2001-2002 I used to hate Schumacher for making the sport quite boring. 2003 brought some more interesting results, but still hated Schumacher for his "dirty" driving and so on. The Adelaide '94 and Jerez '97 debates that were still ongoing at the F1 forum I visited didn't help.

It wasn't until a few races before Schumacher retired that I began to appreciate how awesome a driver he was. And before that, I realized I wasn't watching the sport just for the results.

Watch F1 long enough and it will make you quite cynical, given enough time. Then you realize that what you want to watch is the races and battles, and not just the championship standings. Even though Vettel looks certain to win the rest of the races this season, I have no hate for that. I've been around long enough (though not as long as most people) to know things change very quickly in F1. I have seen Williams fall from top team status in just a few years. That is the proof of the rapid changes that happen in this sport.

So I can understand why Vettel is so appreciative of his wins, because in a few years or possibly next year, he may not have the car or opportunities to win it again. It can happen just like that.
 
He's becoming overrated. He's not the next Schumy, not the next Senna, and not the next Damon Hill.
 
I'd just like to point out that the two races Jenson has won this year happen to be one of the most exciting ever. Look at Vettel's race wins, did you find any exciting to watch? Just wondering.
 
Bobert power
He's becoming overrated. He's not the next Schumy, not the next Senna, and not the next Damon Hill.
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Over-rated? Funny I think the opposite. Which is incredible considering the stats the guy has behind him now.
I'll just wait a few years till everyone changes their opinion as per usual.

mattythedog
I'd just like to point out that the two races Jenson has won this year happen to be one of the most exciting ever. Look at Vettel's race wins, did you find any exciting to watch? Just wondering.
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Monaco.
What are you trying to say, that only races Jenson wins are exciting? The reason Vettel's wins have generally been at "boring" races is because there was no safety car to slow him down so his opponents could have a shot at him or Red Bull screwed up the strategy.
The same could be said for several of the 2009 races.
 
People hate Vettel? Hate? I can understand being annoyed that this year was basically a contest for second place, but hate?
 
Bobert power
He's becoming overrated. He's not the next Schumy, not the next Senna, and not the next Damon Hill.
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Webber is a good driver and vettel being in the same car is completely thrashing him. The only difference I see between Vettel and the greats like senna is that he is so bloomin fast that he doesn't even have to battle with anyone in the first place. ;)
 
Vettel can't be overrated, he is already breaking records and close to matching others, at the age of 24 he has already had a career that would justify his place with the greats, he could retire at the end of this year and still be considered one of the best F1 drivers of all time.

Before you say it was the car, look back to the last 25 years and you could find an arguement that all of the championships we're pretty much won as a result of the car. Among those names, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Damon Hill, Jaques Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen, Fernando Alonso.

They were/are all great drivers, but none of them won the title with an underdog car. The 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 Williams cars and the Ferrari from 2000-2004 could easily be compared to the current Red Bull.
 
Ardius
Monaco.
What are you trying to say, that only races Jenson wins are exciting? The reason Vettel's wins have generally been at "boring" races is because there was no safety car to slow him down so his opponents could have a shot at him or Red Bull screwed up the strategy.
The same could be said for several of the 2009 races.
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That was an exciting race, but tt would have been much more exciting had it not been for the race restart late in the race where Vettel was gifted some fresh rubber :ouch:
 
^Of course, but it was still exciting. Canada could also have been more exciting without the 2 hour wait...
 
Hopefully there are no vettel haters out there. Im myself am a HUGE vettel fan. I honestly really loved the guy ever since monza 2008. Vettel has got everything a racing driver need. He dont make any mistakes, hes fair, racing like a gentleman, hes honest and hes fast as hell. Yes it is true that overtaking isent the thing hes best and but hes only 24.. man come on... Mark my words... Vettel will be the greatest racing driver ever.

Im a senna fan too and i can tell you that vettel has got the same spark as senna. The only diffrence is that Senna started formula 1 as 24 year old where as vettel is 24 and he has already won 2 world championships.

And at last. Mclaren fans... stop all this whining about the cars. As shown many times the mclaren is just as fast as the redbull or maybe a little little little bit slower. But a part of racing is making the best car. Else you could just give all of them the same.

Mark my words, vettel will be the greatest formula 1 driver EVER.
 
Nm, I'm talking out of my ass lol
 
The Ferraris of 1998 and 1999 were hardly underdogs. I mean..if a car can take Eddie Irvine near to the title. :p
The 96 and 97 Ferrari years were certainly impressive..although again, Irvine shows the cars weren't quite as bad as people like to make out.

It was more about reliability holding Ferrari and Schumacher back. Its easy to forget that back then the reason we all talked about how impressive Williams and Renault were was due to their crazy reliability (except for in 1995), not just the outright speed of the cars.
 
Red Bull sits over any other team right now. They got the best car hands down.

The reason Vettel is ahead of Webber is because never was or never will be a true top-driver.
He has the best car under him but manages to only be 4th in the WDC.

Slap in Hamilton or Alonso in the other car and you will see Vettel having way more trouble getting poles or winning races.

When Vettel get´s a car that isn´t superior, that´s when we will see the real Vettel.
Don´t give me the Monza 08 incident, anyone who know what happened in Q3 will see that the win was not that incredible or amazing.
 
hampus_dh
Slap in Hamilton or Alonso in the other car and you will see Vettel having way more trouble getting poles or winning races.
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I don't think anyone disputes that but that doesn't mean Vettel isn't a great driver.
And I'm not sure Hamilton is such a great measuring stick these days...I'm starting to think Vettel would be the one giving Hamilton trouble rather than the other way around.

Alonso is unlikely to join a team with Vettel in the other car anyway. Would Alonso beat Vettel? Maybe. I don't think it would be easy for him though. And that for me is enough to confirm how good Vettel is. Of course, I can't know that Vettel would match Alonso..but its pretty fair to assume he would be able to.

Its funny how people always add the line "and don't mention Monza 08". Why not the entire 2008 season? What about Brazil 2008? :p Why not mention Alonso's 2005 and 2006 seasons where he had a lacklustre Fisichella as a teammate? Is Webber not better than Fisi?
 
I think people get 'hate' confused with light hearted banter.
 
hampus_dh
When Vettel get´s a car that isn´t superior, that´s when we will see the real Vettel.
Don´t give me the Monza 08 incident, anyone who know what happened in Q3 will see that the win was not that incredible or amazing.
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It was a mature, composed drive in wet conditions. It was incredible, full stop.

No actually, I'll continue by pointing out his other 8 points finishes, including 5th at Monaco and 4th at Brazil. Sure, he hasn't spent years and years in an inferior car (like Webber or Button), but we can only go on what we've seen, and Vettel's 2007 and 2008 results were outstanding. I feel that Vettel is easily on the level of Alonso and Hamilton (even when he is on form).
 
f40
... I feel that Vettel is easily on the level of Alonso and Hamilton (even when he is not crashing).
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Fixed that for ya. :p

On a serious note, I don't believe that people actually hate Seb, his successes are so frequent that people actually cheer for the other drivers in order to make the season a little bit more exciting.

The whole point in F1 is about having some healthy but yet fiery competition, the way he smashes laptimes and earn podiums takes away some of the brightness of the event, everything seems so easy. Blaming anyone for being too good is silly, but I do find myself in that situation, though.
 
mattythedog
I'd just like to point out that the two three races Jenson has won this year happen to be one of the most exciting ever. Look at Vettel's race wins, did you find any exciting to watch? Just wondering.
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Fixed :sly:

I found several of Vettel's race wins entertaining. I didn't rate him much last season, but he is really coming into his own. He hasn't made any stupid mistakes in the race when it matters (Except choking on the final lap in Canada, but it didn't affect his championship).

Webber was much better last season. I just don't think he can get the most out of the Pirelli tyres. Red Bull may have the fastest car yes, but Mclaren are very close behind and yet Vettel can always pull out that 5-10 second lead in the first few laps, because he's almost inch perfect with his lines. We saw in India how Vettel was using all of the exit kerbs too but Button was staying within the white lines 90% of the time.
 
Seismica
Vettel can always pull out that 5-10 second lead in the first few laps, because he's almost inch perfect with his lines. We saw in India how Vettel was using all of the exit kerbs too but Button was staying within the white lines 90% of the time.
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I've been watching a lot of 'T-cam' on-board replays of Vettel lately, and the guy is simply methodical. He's a fantastic driver and incredibly consistent. I'm actually glad to see him still going for it and having a competitive nature even in the recent weeks of the season. Racing is racing. Keep on after it, Seb. 👍
 
1. Webber and Vettel drive the same car yet Vettel is much faster.
2. Sebastien Vettel won a race in the Rain in a Toro Rosso....(dont that say it all?)
 
Blaze_409
2. Sebastien Vettel won a race in the Rain in a Toro Rosso....(dont that say it all?)
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Sebastian Bourdais who was the teammate had a time of 1:38.445 while vettel had a time of 1:37.555. However the first 2 qualf section times were nearly identical.

How can a driver like sebastian bourdais who had a terrible season was able to get into grid 3 on qualifying? its the car. They both used the same crappy car that got them to the front. Funny thing is Bourdais was viewed as the winner for that race but we all know what happened to him at the start.

Its a shame though, I personally liked bourdais. Too bad he never had enough time to get situated in an F1 car and drive for a decent team. If I recall, he was crying at the end of the Belgium GP because he almost made pole. Those are the type of drivers we need in F1 who will do anything to stay.
 
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And he was catching Vettel in the race,
Hamilton Kubica and Raikkonen all failed to be even in the top 10 due to mistake.

Hamilton lapped 1,5 seconds quicker the Vettel (in traffic) etc.

No doubt Vettel is one of the best but we dont know how good because his car is superior.
We can only really go by his F3 season against two guys.

Hamilton dominated Vettels first season.
Vettel then gets a championship car the following year with Paul Di Resta.
Paul Di Resta took home the title.

Sure you can say he has matured, especially after the '10 season which he was pretty damn lucky to get the title.

But then again, im sure Di Resta and Hamilton has aswell.

Hamilton in his Rookie year beat Alonso by a fraction. That's a two-time world champion he matches in his first year in F1.

All in all, when Vettel gets a high level teammate like Alonso or Hamilton we will know for sure just what he is capable of.
No doubt hes one of the best, but the best? i dont think so,
 
corporatesteve
Its a shame though, I personally liked bourdais. Too bad he never had enough time to get situated in an F1 car and drive for a decent team. If I recall, he was crying at the end of the Belgium GP because he almost made pole. Those are the type of drivers we need in F1 who will do anything to stay.
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actually, I believe it was because he was running in 3rd at the start of the final lap and got passed by Heidfeld, Alonso, Vettel and Kubica.
 
hampus_dh
No doubt Vettel is one of the best but we dont know how good because his car is superior.
We can only really go by his F3 season against two guys.

Hamilton dominated Vettels first season.
Vettel then gets a championship car the following year with Paul Di Resta.
Paul Di Resta took home the title.

Sure you can say he has matured, especially after the '10 season which he was pretty damn lucky to get the title.

But then again, im sure Di Resta and Hamilton has aswell.

Hamilton in his Rookie year beat Alonso by a fraction. That's a two-time world champion he matches in his first year in F1.

All in all, when Vettel gets a high level teammate like Alonso or Hamilton we will know for sure just what he is capable of.
No doubt hes one of the best, but the best? i dont think so,
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As DC says: "Past performance is no guarantee for future success". I think that Hamilton on paper should have been fighting Vettel all the way. Vettel on paper should have been scrapping with Webber. But this season, Vettel has shown a huge improvement on last year, he is in the form of his life. No matter what anyone says, I believe him to be the best driver on the grid right now irrespective of the car (Well, Kubica isn't here so that is the conclusion I have come to. Alonso and Button are right behind).
 
hampus_dh
Sure you can say he has matured, especially after the '10 season which he was pretty damn lucky to get the title.
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Lucky like in Korea? Or The first two races where he was placed on the back foot for the whole season through no fault of his own?
 
f40
Lucky like in Korea? Or The first two races where he was placed on the back foot for the whole season through no fault of his own?
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His car breaking down is little to do with luck, it's to do with how well the car is designed and maintained. Going into the final race without the champion under his belt was down to the car (he should've won it before then). Car reliability is required to do well. But he did still have the fastest car, so when he didn't break down it was similar to this season. Red Bull did have the best car overall (There is a distinct difference between fastest and best), but reliability was the worst of the established teams, so in that respect he's kind of lucky Mclaren/Ferrari didn't have the pace that the Red Bull had, otherwise he would've finished behind Alonso and Hamilton by the end.
 
Their car is a future classic, both of them actually. Sheer perfection.
Just imagine how they would dominate if they would have gotten the Mercedes deal.
 
hampus_dh
Their car is a future classic, both of them actually. Sheer perfection.
Just imagine how they would dominate if they would have gotten the Mercedes deal.
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I don't think they would have. The packaging and the driveability of the Renault engine have a part in the Red Bull's performance, it isn't just about top end power. This year the Renault has been very close to the Mercedes engine performance wise (Unlike last year when it lacked power). Whats more, Red Bull is now the primary Renault team, not Renault (Confusing, I know) which means that Newey and the rest of the team at Red Bull have a say in engine development which will mean it will be fully integrated into their car.

That said, Brawn had the wrong engine in 2009 and still made it work (The car was designed around the Honda engine), so maybe packaging isn't that important...
 
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