Dear Nigel,
Is Vettel’s latest outburst justified? Hamilton had been delayed by a puncture and not by being slow, therefore he would be expected to make up as many places as he could, and try to score some points, even if this meant passing the race leaders.
Peter Clothier
Dear Peter,
Three years ago a member of the Red Bull team murmured to me that Sebastian Vettel wasn’t always the smiling schoolboy he seemed to be: “When things go wrong,” he said, “the toys come flying out of the pram like you wouldn’t believe…”
The stock response to criticisms of this kind is that, ‘The great ones are always like that – that’s why they’re the great ones’, and there is some truth in that, but, that said, I’m with you – I haven’t always been terribly impressed by Vettel’s post-race demeanour this season, either.
After the sort of seasons he had in 2010 and ’11, when he was World Champion each time, it must be a shock to the system to realise that suddenly you don’t have conclusively the fastest car any more, that you don’t leave home every fortnight almost assuming you’re going to win. Sebastian was indeed all smiles last year, but in 2012 his churlish side – such as we saw after that nonsensical coming-together with team mate Webber at Istanbul in 2010 – has been in much greater evidence.
I thought, for example, his remarks about Narain Karthikeyan (following their touch in Malaysia) were pretty cheap, and on more than occasion this year he has come across as a bit of a spoilt brat, always putting the blame on someone other than himself.
Vettel is fundamentally a nice guy, with a pleasant manner and a good sense of humour, and he’s also a superb racing driver, if still prone to mistakes under pressure. In many ways, he has perhaps had it too easy in F1, although that’s hardly his fault, but he has to face the fact that when things go wrong, as invariably they will, the fault is not always with others.
Perhaps I am too much of a Vettel fan but it seems to me no one on the grid is more glum than Mark Webber especially when losing to Seb, which is very often these past few years. With that said certain drivers take a bit of a beating by the press and certain drivers are above it.
Mark gets huge amounts of love from most media outlets including this one. When Mark had his front wing switched 2 years ago in Silverstone you would have thought the world ended. Raikkonen had the exact same thing happen in Silverstone this year with Grosjean and no one heard a word about it from Kimi(who by the way has a ton more points than Romain). So in refernce to this question asker, I think you picked the wrong teammate to ask about attitude over all.
yes you are too much of a Vettel fan Michael…. and maybe I’m too much of a Webber fan, but you never miss a chance to slam the Aussie, don’t you? Even when the topic isn’t about him!
No one is perfect is what I take from all of this. Webber whines, Sebbie acts like a spoiled teenager. Lewis the same at times. Alonso….well I don’t want to say he cheats, but there is those who will. We should all be Kimi fans I guess…
Nobody who’s had things their own way for a while can take it when the tide turns – Alonso in ’07, Hamilton in ’10 and (especially) ’11, Vettel now (it seems). It’s the nature of the F1 beast. What’s most interesting about it is how the press corps in different countries plays on these things, at the level of individual journalists even, making some drivers out to be saints, others demons. I won’t even mention the blogosphere!
Human nature is what it is. When we see meltdowns like ’07 and ’11 (and possibly ’12 or ’13 if seb doesn’t get what he wants) we should all ignore the journos and remember they’re just young guys not getting what they really, really want…
It bears considering that back in the old days most drivers who made it to F1 were well experienced by the time they got there (usually) and that put them at a higher age and perhaps a higher level of maturity than the instant success feature of careers that we have seen since the ’80s. Some people are ready for the limelight and some aren’t. I would’ve thought Seb’s petulant ways were behind him after two titles, but….. Maybe he needs a new challenge – beating or not beating Mark Webber is old now, I’d like to see him up against Alonso in equal machinery.
Guys, nothing new here, this is part of F1 and has been going on forever. Niki Lauda has commented that you have to behave this way in F1, or just get pushed aside.
i don’t particularly wish to exonerate seb’s attitude as it is plainly churlish and quite nauseating and yes I’ve heard similar stories of other champions throwing wobblies when their way isn’t the only way – but Seb – come on mate, i saw a bit of you at Goodwood [well done ITV a good presentation] and you genuinely looked like you were having fun and were respectful to other great drivers, but there are better ways of getting your point across that throwing your toys out
I disagree Ray, this is actually is a (fairly) recent thing. Can’t remember JMF, SM moaning about cars, team or even other drivers! Clark didn’t moan when he lost two championships on the last few laps of the last race (the 64 championsip on the last lap!) due to car failure. Nor did Hill ( Snr) in the same race when he had a coming together with Bandini,scuppering his WDC chances. Sir Jack did have a go at Piers Courage for what in effect cost him the Monaco GP or later that season publically blaming the team for running out of fuel on the last lap, handing victory to Rindt again. Unfortunately the time has gone when it was a sport involving proper blokes.
For what it’s worth I think that a fair number of the current lot are very good drivers Alonso particularly, Hamilton, Vettel etc., but for **** sake get on with the driving and cut out the handbagging. (Frank Gardner would turn on his grave … ) It doesn’t sound professional, it shouldn’t endear anybody to them and with all this correspondence generated by these tirades one wonders whether so called race fans should be watching another sport like soccer where such behaviour is acceptable.
On a related note, I’m exasperated by current and former drivers, (yes, you DC), berating the fact that other drivers have the gall to overtake them. In my opinion I love to see overtaking and if that means someone has to unlap themselves or overtake th ‘leaders’ then so be it. I also dislike the assumption that lesser cars should get out of the way, if you as a driver are that good then it’s up to you to overtake.
” In many ways, he has perhaps had it too easy in F1″ You’re joking right ? This guy started F1 in a STR and won a Grand prix. Hamilton got a top flight mclaren straight away….. who has had it easy ?
Martin, I totally agree: Fangio, Moss, Clark, Hill, Stewart et al conducted themselves with far more dignity and sportsmanship than some of the current bunch.
Sporting activity acquires its meaning, not only as a demonstration of randomly-endowed natural ability, but as a test of moral character. And by this criterion, I would cite Alonso, Button, Webber, Kovalainen and Raikkonen as the finest racing drivers on the F1 grid (with Vettel nowhere near, and Schumacher laughably off the scale).
Incidentally, from the time of Keke Rosberg onwards, I can’t recall any Finnish F1 driver either pulling a false move on the racetrack or saying anything idiotic. “Sisu” is it they call it? The ability to combine toughness with fair conduct? Let us see Valterri Bottas on the grid as soon as possible.
The article and the comments are totally unnecessary. Hamilton has lashed out unwantedly in 2009 and so has everyone, when they have had a bad day. Its just humane, if you need sanyasis who’d be smiling at the face of failure, go to a yoga center.
lol ! I have to agree with Arun !
Arun, thank you for adding to what you describe as the totally unnecessary comments.
“.. smiling at the face of failure..”?
Metaphor, come to facts.
We might remember that there has never been more media attention than today. F1 drivers and teams are continually pestered by media types wanting something and more likely anything that they can publish. It must be unbelievably stressful to be exposed and second guessed all the time while you are trying to do a dangerous and very complicated job. As another poster stated we are only human and it amazes me that for the most part the drivers function pretty well in the midst of the media hurricane engulfing F1.
Not a great fan of Vettel, after hearing his radio chatter etc., but I gotta give him his props as a driver.
I do wonder how good he really is – only cause of the off-throttle blower and other stuff RBR seems really good at. I mean the RB7 was getting awesome gaps like mad in 2011..
Put him, Alonso, Webber, Button, Massa (YES he is good too) and Hammie in equal cars, who wins?
Mr Roebuck’s comments on Vettel’s reactions to on track frustrations is yet another example of British motorsports media’s native English-language speaker bias.
Mark Webber throws a tantrum at a press conference and he is called out for his Aussie grit. Vettel throws a tantrum for being delayed by an out of contest Hamilton and Mr Roebuck admonishes his childish behavior? where is the difference on two good drivers being upset at having their chances ruined by circumstances beyond their control?
British media bias has, historically, thrown their collective column-inch might to protect Aussie drivers, in this instance a close-to-retirement driver who in reality has had only one good, solid season behind him; a driver who, for the most part has had the good luck of having mediocre drivers as teammates –even while being beaten by a really mediocre Heidfeld, no less– as the main reason for his artificially high stock (not to mention his PR acumen-enhancing good looks).
To this day I still recall the bias with which this magazine covered the Renault/Piquet/Symond/Briatore ordeal, so it is does not surprise me to read again unfair comments from a British scribe that aim to protect their own, in this case, a former English penal colony-member. It makes you come across so third country…
Giorgio,
While I agree with your general thrust – what is it you expect? Ferrari gets an easy ride from the Italian media, German drivers get the same from the German-speaking media (ever watched RTL’s F1 coverage?) and as for the Spanish media, well, the less said the better. Brits share a lot of culture with English-speaking Aussie drivers, so it’s hardly surprising there’s some bias (even though, imo, it’s much more subtle than that in other nations). This is a commercial motorsport magazine, based in Britain, not an international court. Live with it.
PS. I think you’re slinging some kind of ‘third world country’ muck in the last line of your post. Don’t know where you’re from, but you are aware the impending eurozone implosion is about to send Italy, Spain and France back to the Stone Age, aren’t you?…
It will be interesting to see which of these two “coddled” drivers, Sebastian Vettel or Lewis Hamilton, grows up first…
Hamfan,
I was born in a third world country, and as such we always looked up to the developed world’s more independent press. It was the source from which we could gather truly independent information, backed by their bodies’ higher journalistic integrity. Therefore when I speak of third world appearances, it’s because the tone of the commentary sounds awfully familiar: an attempt to blind an audience with partisan positions.
What do I expect? A higher sense of integrity and neutrality to which all better-developed entities –such as the British motorsports press– are held to, simply because they know better.
At last someone has said it!
You can be exactly who you choose to be whether you drive in F1 or if you drive a taxi for a living.
If it were me I’d like to be remembered with affection like Stewart, Fangio, Clark, Graham Hill and of late Jenson Button.
These guys made a difference. They raced cleanly and when they won they thanked those around them who had made it possible and they were beaten they were honest about it.
Vettel is a Diva . . . . end of arguement and in my book “Diva” stands for another fourletter word which cannot be reproduced here.
Snap out of it Seb, do you want to be remembered as “good” or dom you want to be remembered as “great”?