What's going on at Ferrari

[Dare]

So when Vettel goes to Racing Point he may
have the same problem but Lance won't make him
look as bad

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/why-ferrari-hobbling-vettel-doesn-092519294.html

[cosworth151]

It's often been said that Vettel is very, very good in a car that suits him perfectly. It might not be that Ferrari are deliberately hobbling him. It might be as simple as that the car was designed with Leclerc in mind and Vettel can't get himself adjusted to it.

[John S]

It's often been said that Vettel is very, very good in a car that suits him perfectly. It might not be that Ferrari are deliberately hobbling him. It might be as simple as that the car was designed with Leclerc in mind and Vettel can't get himself adjusted to it.

Yeah similar to what Albon is experiencing at RBR. The car is so focused to Max's needs that other drivers find it hard to make it work.

Now is this a team issue or a driver problem?  Hard to say if Jim Clark & JYS could have worked round this, history suggests they probably could - so a driver problem then. 

[lkjohnson1950]

It depends on what is designed into the car and what is able to be adjusted. When Daniel R. came to R/B he was quicker than Vettel at a number of races. Someone who knew a bit about R/B said that rules changes forced them to design a car with less rear grip. Danny could drive it, Seb was uncomfortable. In a book about Clark's '63 season with the Lotus 25, one of his mechanics said nearly everyone who drove it with Jim's set up would come in complaining of understeer. Then Clark would get in and put it on pole. I suspect the Ferrari is naturally somewhat loose making Seb uncomfortable.

[Jericoke]

It's often been said that Vettel is very, very good in a car that suits him perfectly. It might not be that Ferrari are deliberately hobbling him. It might be as simple as that the car was designed with Leclerc in mind and Vettel can't get himself adjusted to it.

Yeah similar to what Albon is experiencing at RBR. The car is so focused to Max's needs that other drivers find it hard to make it work.

Now is this a team issue or a driver problem?  Hard to say if Jim Clark & JYS could have worked round this, history suggests they probably could - so a driver problem then. 

In the past drivers could have a long time with their car, Albon has, what, 60 hours with his butt in that Red Bull?  It's a team sport, and it's up to Albon and his engineers to get the car right.  It's entirely possible Albon isn't capable of that level of communication.  It's entirely possible that the RBR simply can't suit a second year F1 driver.   

The idea of the STR team being used to prepare top drivers in a low pressure environment doesn't really seem to be working out.  Max, Gasly and Albon were fast tracked, and even though Max won his first RBR race, it took 30 more races to get his second win.  I think Max does have the skill and temperment to win.  I also think hat Gasly and Albon have the skill to win. I think everyone on the current grid has the skill to win.  The temperment is harder to develop.  Also the ability to work with a team to setup the car just so.  If Max has the best engineers and mechanics, it puts him that extra step ahead of Albon.  If the engineers and mechanics treat Albon like he's Max, it puts Max that extra step ahead of Albon.  Drivers like Hamilton, Alonso and Schumacher never put up with being treated 'second class'.  Albon has to stop being thankful for being in F1, and start to push.  It's not too late for him, and I think that Red Bull as an organization would react well to a p*ssed off Albon.  I think that Max would do well to have an antagonistic teammate, like Lewis did with Rosberg.

[Warmwater]

Winning in F1 it has always been much more about car package performance than driver ability, though the team has to have a relatively competent driver and crew. Why the Mercedes car is faster at this moment is a puzzle to me, perhaps Lewis is a slightly superior driver but you have to question why is the Mercedes usually first AND second, not only in the race but also in practice sessions and qualifying. And why is the car that Williams designed usually among the slowest? Right now there is a huge disparity between the two Ferraris, Leclerk is definitely a good driver, but why is Vettle suddenly so much worse? It reminds me of Jack Villenueve a few years ago, in a very short time went from World Champion to World Slowpoke. I believe that his eyesight went south, and now Sebastian might have some similar problem.... or maybe he has just lost hope with Ferrari. We will see next season.

[John S]

Winning in F1 it has always been much more about car package performance than driver ability, though the team has to have a relatively competent driver and crew. Why the Mercedes car is faster at this moment is a puzzle to me, perhaps Lewis is a slightly superior driver but you have to question why is the Mercedes usually first AND second, not only in the race but also in practice sessions and qualifying. And why is the car that Williams designed usually among the slowest? Right now there is a huge disparity between the two Ferraris, Leclerk is definitely a good driver, but why is Vettle suddenly so much worse? It reminds me of Jack Villenueve a few years ago, in a very short time went from World Champion to World Slowpoke. I believe that his eyesight went south, and now Sebastian might have some similar problem.... or maybe he has just lost hope with Ferrari. We will see next season.

I've read somewhere that engineers believe a car with oversteer characteristics can lap a track faster than one with understeer, the problem is understeer is so much easier to deal with for most drivers, so the few who can cope well with built in oversteering traits have a real advantage in a car built to suit them.

Max seems perfectly at home with a tail wagging car and it appears so does Charles, could that be the big difference in team mates trying to keep them in sight?   

[Warmwater]

Hmmm... Okay, but a good driver should be able to adapt to the peculiarities of the car, at least to be able to keep close to his team-mate. If not, then maybe he isn't such a good driver.

[Jericoke]

Hmmm... Okay, but a good driver should be able to adapt to the peculiarities of the car, at least to be able to keep close to his team-mate. If not, then maybe he isn't such a good driver.

A good keeper and a good striker can be top players, but not interchangeable.  While it's fair to say 'the best' driver should be comfortable in any setup, the winner is going to be the one who's paired with a car that suits their strengths.  Part of the skill of being a top driver is making sure you're in a car that suits your strengths.  That's why Schumacher basically brought the whole  Benneton team with him, he knew they knew how to make him win!

It is a team sport, and we don't really see how the drivers interact with the team making sure that the car is the right car for the driver.  Maybe Lewis, Max and LeClerc really are that good at working with their team, or maybe they're just 'lucky'.