Official: Vettel Signs with Ferrari for 3 Years

[cosworth151]

Sebastian Vettel has signed a three year deal with Ferrari. He will replace Fernando Alonso. No real surprise. Now we'll find out how good he is without a Newey designed car.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2014/11/16648.html

[Jericoke]

Upon reflection, I don't know if this is a great move by Ferrari.  Historically their choice of driver has been as much about growing the Ferarri brand as it has been winning races (certainly winning races is a great way to grow the brand)

Schumacher helped make Ferrari a big name in Germany, likewise Alonso for Spain.  What does Vettel bring?  Does Ferrari need to shore up their brand in Germany?  Have they decided they need the best driver available?  (I agree this is debatable)

[Irisado]

I think that both Ferrari and Vettel will be in for a disappoint.  The Ferrari won't be quick enough, and Vettel won't be able to extract as much performance from a mediocre car as Alonso could.  I don't see this being a fruitful partnership.

[John S]

I think the real detail here is the 3 years, OK next years car will not be on the pace to win a championship, maybe not even a race, but the engine freeze will surely be amended for 16 or 17 and the order will be re-set as usually happens in F1.

Everything in this strange world of F1 that we all love so much goes in cycles, is it too much to believe that the present top dogs will be swept aside in time - it could be Ferrari as well as anyone one else that comes out on top.

Vettel clearly had issues with this year's Red Bull car, whether it's the new hybrid turbo power or the chassis that RBR put with it is unknown, so changing one of the elements makes sense from a drivers point of view. The fat wad of cash that Ferrari are prepared to pay also helps. 

[lkjohnson1950]

Vettel's problem was that the car moved around too much (less Aero) and he didn't trust it. I read that if Mercedes doesn't agree to let the others catch up a bit for '15, Renault, Honda and Ferrari may vote to remove all restrictions from development for '16. Then we will have an all out engine war.
 

[John S]

I think that both Ferrari and Vettel will be in for a disappoint.  The Ferrari won't be quick enough, and Vettel won't be able to extract as much performance from a mediocre car as Alonso could.  I don't see this being a fruitful partnership.

I kinda see it differently. Not about the differences between Seb & Nando, which I happen to agree with, but because of these differences. Seems an odd thing to say so let me explain my theory.

Alonso manages to mask just how awful a car is and in so doing gives the designers and engineers of that car and power system some comfort that they are going in the right direction, whilst in reality the car is really a dead horse that needs to lay down.

Where as Vettel and others who appear unable to make bad cars outperform their limits quickly show up 2nd rate machinery, with low or no point scores, causing any team with a big budget to look for a more clean sheet approach for upgrades, or even a mk2, rather than the sequential steps teams like to adopt.

Just my theory, but perhaps Nando has suffered more than most because of his own higher ability in the last few years.