- 18 Sep 11, 13:33#275462
Webber has had problems this year that's for sure, given his form last year to this year being very different. But using the gap from him to Vettel to say the car isn't a dominant one is what I'd call ignorant.
A car that has been on pole every race and Sebs taken that car to 1st or 2nd every race thus far bar one is a pretty dominant performance. To say it's all driver because of his team mate is a toughy. would you be saying that if his team mate was Hamilton or Alonso? Who I feel would be doing just as good a job as Seb with the RB7.
But talking about mistakes there is always less chance of mistakes when you start from the front and lead from the front. And I think you'll find the average pole gap to McLaren would be around the 4 to 5 tenths mark. And I don't buy McLarens claims of faster race pace at some races either, unless they won! For Monza their drivers were 1-2 in fastest laps but 2 and 4 in the results. Seb might have had the speed to match or better their times but was so far ahead of P2 he just needed to maintain not push. This can be said for other races this year.
All in all ask any driver on the grid about which car they could drive if they had a choice and it would be the RB7!
Well, choosing not to 'buy' what most (media, other teams and drivers) agree on is of course your own choice, but doesn't explain some of the McLaren's charges from far behind.
I'm not saying it's all driver, what I'm saying is, it's NOT all car. If it was all car, Webber would be well clear of Alonso, Button and Hamilton.
Like the examples I showed, just having a fast car is not enough; it wasn't enough for Villeneuve to dominate in, it wasn't enough for Barichello and Fisischella to dominate in. A dominant car without a dominant driver does not generate dominant results, so saying this year's domination is not to Vettel's credit is just ignorant.
Webber has had problems this year that's for sure, given his form last year to this year being very different. But using the gap from him to Vettel to say the car isn't a dominant one is what I'd call ignorant.