Vettel: Are we witnessing one of F1′s greatest of all time? – Part 2

For the 2011 season, it was accepted, without a spoken word of protest, that Red Bull Racing was the team to beat and Vettel’s crown became the prize for successful warriors. But, Vettel is a beast in the cockpit, a slave to victory’s commands and when you have Adrian Newey building your ‘go fast buggy’, your only worthy adversary is yourself.

Vettel’s lack of maturity is no longer a topic for discussion, he has applied himself in an almost frightening manner, all the time socking the opposition, including his listless teammate, Webber, with torturous, forceful punches thus mutilating their championship aspirations.

I was hoping that the hunt for Vettel’s scalp would have kept me glued to the races. As fate would dictate, Red Bull and Vettel rained P1-addicted revs and blistering speed on that parade. The hunt and conquest has not materialized. By Round 5, I started to have visions of a F1 championship trophy inundated with a single name – Sebastain Vettel. And therein lies my disinterest. The teams I had expected to step up, having had time to regroup, reorganize and launch a renewed title assault have vanished from the radar and can now be found in scrap- metal yard, in a section marked – Vanquished!

Monaco

At the end of Round 6 in Monaco, Vettel had 5 victories and one 2nd place finish. The championship, in my untrained mind was over. By the time Round 12 ended in Belgium, Vettel had 7 victories, four 2nd place finishes and his worst finish, one 4th place.

McLaren Mercedes and Ferrari drivers have tried, but they lack consistency – Hamilton has 2 victories (China & Germany), Button, 2 victories (Canada & Hungary), Alonso, 1 victory (Great Britain) and while they struggle to understand the force of the Bull, Vettel is paddle-shifting with delight to his 2nd world championship.

Round 13 at Monza offered another opportunity to the jackals. It was felt that the track would roll all of the RB7’s shortcomings into an avalanche of defeat. Qualifying sang a different note though. Vettel grabbed pole. The race didn’t disappoint, the competitive fire ran amok throughout. Alonso’s machismo soared a the start, he dive-bombed Vettel and led into turn 1. Vettel kept his wit, drove on a knife’s edge and despite disturbing the grass and soil, he blew by Alonso. At one stage, the race had 5 world champions locked in the top 5 spots!

But, in 2011 the class act has always been and still remains – Vettel the Vandal! At the track where he had his first F1 victory, he scored his eighth for the 2011 season. Vettel currently has 284 points, he is 112 points ahead of Alonso in 2nd and there are 6 Rounds remaining. And here is the traumatic segment – Vettel could clinch the championship at the next round in Singapore! Arrant dominance! As he continues the heartless executions, I will pose this question – Are we witnessing one of  F1’s greatest drivers of all time?

While you think, add this question – Would it be too humiliating for Ferrari, McLaren and others to outsource chassis design and development to RBR? (LOL)

F1 2011 – Monza Gridwalk with Martin Brundle

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer