There have been some elements of the press who have been claiming that Sebastian Vettel cannot be considered one of the greats until he has won championships with different teams.
I cannot follow the thinking behind this. Jim Clark spent his entire professional career at Lotus, but few would deny his position among the pantheon of the greats. Alberto Ascari won all of his World Championship races with Ferrari. Jackie Stewart won all but one of his GP victories with Team Tyrrell.
Fangio won titles with four teams and I have seen this held against him; the charge is 'cockpit hopping'. In fact, three of the teams for whom Fangio won titles, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz and Maserati withdrew from racing at the end of a season when he won a World Championship. He had to find another tram.
Alain Prost drove for several teams. Does the number of teams for whom Prost drove enhance his reputation? Perhaps not when you consider that he was sacked by both Renault and Ferrari and remains the only top driver to have been sacked by two top teams.
Vettel has actually driven for three teams. He became the then youngest driver to score points with BMW Sauber (2007 United States GP). He joined Toro Rosso for the 2007 Hungarian GP and stayed until the end of 2008 and joined Red Bull for 2009, He made mistakes, but he learned from them and one thing he learned was consistency.
What Sebastian has been doing is the same as Clark and Ascari: take the lead and pull away. It doesn't make for an exciting spectacle, but neither did Ascari or Clark. When people talk about great drives, they usually mean dominant drives, but for some reason, Sebastian's considerable achievements are played down by some.
That really is not fair because he is doing what every driver on the grid would like to do and what every team wishes their cars and drivers could do.
We have been seeing Fernando Alonso have to battle for places, but it is not something he does by choice and not something he expected when he signed for Ferrari. Fernando has shown determination in a poor car, but he would rather be in a good car which is perhaps why his manager approached Red Bull.
I have the feeling that Alonso has lost some of his edge as the season has gone on, as has Hamilton. There is a sure way to tell that: the number of times a driver speaks to the media.
What is remarkable about Sebastian Vettel is the lead he establishes on the opening lap when the fuel load is heavier and brakes and tyres not yet up to temperature. The other driver who used to do that was Ayrton Senna. Senna set pole 66 times, but scored only 19 fastest laps. Fastest lap tends to be set late in a race, but Ayrton did his best work, relative to the rest of the field, in the opening laps, just like Sebastian Vettel.
To win in any race requires a combination of car and driver and Sebastian and Red Bull have clicked. Vettel is not relaxed behind the scenes, he can be a real fuss bucket, but teams don't mind that provided a driver delivers. Niki Lauda was a right graunch in the gearbox when he arrived at Ferrari, having achieved very little previously, but he delivered where it mattered.
All drivers seek what they believe is the best opportunity and very few have ever been bound by loyalty. It is also rare for a team to remain loyal to its drivers, John Surtees was sacked by Ferrari, as were Alain Prost and Kimi Raikkonen, World Champions all. Luca di Montezemolo has recently said that Ferrari is above all drivers. That sounded to me like marketing speak, boosting mystique, since he also has road cars to sell and Maranello now faces stiff opposition in the market.
I once congratulated Derek Bell after one of his wins at Le Mans. Derek said, with characteristic modesty, 'I had the best car.' I said, 'Porsche knows that too, but they wanted you to drive whereas they could have had me at a fraction of your fee.'
Sebastian probably does have the best car, but he didn't secure the drive by being Capt. Affable. He had pulled off a remarkable win at Monza, 2008, in a Toro Rosso. It remains the only win Minardi/Toro Rosso, has enjoyed in its 28 year history.
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