Vettel told to retire in Spain

[John S]

This report from Automoto365 seems to indicate that Red bull wanted Seb to park up when the brake problem struck in Spain, all power to him for chancing the final laps. Who knows what might have happened in a high speed shunt, we're so used to the sport erring on the side of caution it's great to see the derring-do spirit is still alive in F1.
 
According to reports in the German press, Sebastian Vettel was told by his Red Bull Racing team to retire from last Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix because his car was suffering a braking problem.

The Auto Moto und Sport reports that the German racing driver was told after he returned to the track after his stop that he should retire because mechanics had noticed the damage to his brake disc during the stop. However, when he replied over the radio that he wanted to keep going and was retiring was really necessary, there was no response.

Therefore he kept going slower than before and after he had passed pit entry the team gave him the okay to keep going, just to be careful. He did just that and eventually crossed the line in third place something he managed to do by shifting his brake bias all the way to the back
 
f1.automoto365.com, May 11


 

[Jericoke]

Call me cynical, but this smells like corportate butt covering - in the event of a crash, it was the rogue driver who caused the accident, not the responsible team.

I'm glad Vettel stayed out though.  If there's one thing that Button and Schumacher have taught us, the best drivers are the guys in the cockpit who understand the race better than anyone else.

Actually, without in season testing, I don't understand why cars with problems don't go to the pits for repairs and go back out to collect data.  Who cares if you're 10 laps down?  Where else are you going to get this kind of data?  Or better yet experience for the younger drivers?

[Alianora La Canta]

The new teams already appear to have taken your suggestion on board to some extent, Jeri, which seems to be helping them. In this case, though, there were only about 7 laps to go at that point. Even if Red Bull had been the sort of team to do post-"retirement" test sessions, there probably wouldn't have been time to fix the brakes and send Sebastian back out before the chequered flag got waved.

[lkjohnson1950]

Vettel impressed me with the way he adapted to the problem and brought the car home. That showed a thinking and mature driver on top of the situation.

Lonny

[SennaMan]

Vettel impressed me with the way he adapted to the problem and brought the car home. That showed a thinking and mature driver on top of the situation.

Lonny

yeah Lonny, so refreshing and pleasing to see - the guy is a WDC-in-waiting 

[Williamsfan]

Definitely agree about Vettel, he is a brilliant driver and has a few WCs in him.  If only his car would give him bulletproof reliability! 

[SennaMan]

Definitely agree about Vettel, he is a brilliant driver and has a few WCs in him.  If only his car would give him bulletproof reliability! 

quite agree, and he will be off to McLAREN or FERRARI if they don't

[Williamsfan]

Definitely agree about Vettel, he is a brilliant driver and has a few WCs in him.  If only his car would give him bulletproof reliability! 

quite agree, and he will be off to McLAREN or FERRARI if they don't

Yeah, very true.  I've always seen him as Alonso's long term replacement at Ferrari.

[cosworth151]

That's the spirit, lad! Good on him.

[judy]

Vettel impressed me with the way he adapted to the problem and brought the car home. That showed a thinking and mature driver on top of the situation. 

Lonny

I fully agree that Vettel is very impressive in the way he adapted to the problem. I am sure he will be winning the WDC in the near future! 
 

[Jericoke]

Vettel impressed me with the way he adapted to the problem and brought the car home. That showed a thinking and mature driver on top of the situation. 

Lonny

I fully agree that Vettel is very impressive in the way he adapted to the problem. I am sure he will be winning the WDC in the near future! 
 

When was the last time we watched a 'future champ' develope into one?

Hamilton won his in his second season, as did Villeneuve.

Whatever your current opinion of Button may be, I don't think anyone seriously thought he was a future champion during his time at Honda.

Kimi looked he could be a champ for McLaren, but is that the same as the maturity Vettel is showing?

[markb]

I don't think anybody can argue against Vettel being an excellent driver, ....but let's not forget also that he's probably got one of the best cars as well, which of course helps!

[Scott]

That echoes what everyone said about Schumacher.    

One of the best cars includes the Ferrari's and the Mclaren's, and one could say the Merc's are not far off the pace either.

[Jericoke]

I don't think anybody can argue against Vettel being an excellent driver, ....but let's not forget also that he's probably got one of the best cars as well, which of course helps!

In fact the point is Vettel's driving, specifically discussing his ability to bring a wounded car into third place.

Is that world champion material?

Or just an over protective team?

(I'm inclined to suggest the former)