Vettel won 2013 F1 marathon on downhill course

[John S]

Good, but one of the greats? Not even close! says 'Motorhead'.

Glad to see someone else rates Prost in the same bracket as Fangio, with Seb trailing quite a bit at this moment in time.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/motorhead-uk/vettel-good-one-greats-not-even-close-160644326.html

[Scott]

I concur... 

[lkjohnson1950]

I agree, but it kills me that they didn't even mention Clark. Does anyone think he would not have won another WDC or 2 if he hadn't been killed in a race modern drivers would be forbidden to enter? I mean look at the titles other drivers won in cars that would have been his as long as he wanted them.

[cosworth151]

That is especially true since he would have been in the Lotus/Ford/Cosworth 49, which was every bit as unbeatable then as the RB9 is now.

Certainly Stewart would have had a few more, too, had he not retired following the death of his friend and team mate François Cevert.

[Jericoke]

If Alonso had chosen RBR instead of Ferrari, is there any doubt they'd have signed him in an instant?

Or Button... or Hamilton... or Kimi... or even Schumacher?

Vettel might have the advantage of the best team, but calling that 'luck' would seem to be silly.  The most 'luck' that Seb has had in his 4 championships came in the form of Vitaly Petrov putting on the drive of his life in 2010 and keeping Alonso from his third championship. 

Alonso made the choice of not having the Adrian Newey car.  If that's all it takes for Vettel to win, then Alonso chose to lose.

Otherwise, we have to acknowledge that the sport is one of the most complicated on Earth, and it's demeaning to F1 to dismiss a four time champion as 'lucky'.

The other greats ended their careers when they had nothing left to give (either in terms of skill, or desire).  In the long run, it is this reservoir of skill and desire that determines who is 'great' and who is merely 'excellent'.  Vettel's place in history is still being written

[Irisado]

IVettel might have the advantage of the best team, but calling that 'luck' would seem to be silly.  The most 'luck' that Seb has had in his 4 championships came in the form of Vitaly Petrov putting on the drive of his life in 2010 and keeping Alonso from his third championship.

Not just that Jeri.  By all rights, he should have lost the championship last year after that collision with Senna's Williams on lap one at Interlagos.  He was extremely fortunate that his car was not badly damaged.