[vndkshn]

Originally Posted by Jack Sparrow

Definitely could be. Remember KERS wasn't working properly on the RB7 towards the beginning of the season. I wish all the teams would release technical reports every 2 or 3 years just to explain their technological innovations for the prior seasons. Imagine what Newey would have to say regarding the Launch issues.

Agreed, it would also be cool if they were required to detail their failures. "Why did KERS fail?" or "Why did your motor go boom?"

[Vox Populi]

Originally Posted by vndkshn

But here's the thing that everyone overlooks, if it was JUST the car, why isn't Webber .3 to .5 seconds faster than the other cars? And why is he generally slower than Vettel, often by a wide margin?

At Singapore, Webber was .4 seconds slower than Vettel and call it .2 faster than Button, so it might indicate you are correct, however:

In Italy Webber was .7 seconds SLOWER than Vettel, and .2 sec slower than Hamilton. All session long haven't the cars been "identical" other than individual setups/preferences of the drivers and the individual strategies?

At Spa, Vettel had roughly a half second over Hamilton, but a full second on Webber.

At Hungry, Vettel had almost .2 seconds on Hamilton, but over .6 on Webber.

Then the "coming in at every single track faster" theory starts to break apart as you see others taking pole at points in the session.

Is the car a great car? Sure, but it isn't everything.

I hate to stay on this topic bc at the end of the day i AM a fan of Vettel's...

that being said, I was always under the impression that the driver most near the top of the points standings generally has more say about the direction and development of the car. If that is in fact the case, perhaps the input that Vettel has given and subsequently has been implemented by RBR doesn't jive with Webber's driving style. *shrug*

[SuperFrog]

I think Webber is just a bad driver compared to many on the track. He nearly stalls every start and manages to get passed at bad times. I think that's why RBR re-signed him, he's not much competion to Vettel. If yall want to talk about a great car making an average driver look good then you should focus on Webber.

[Vox Populi]

Originally Posted by SuperFrogM3

I think Webber is just a bad driver compared to many on the track. He nearly stalls every start and manages to get passed at bad times. I think that's why RBR re-signed him, he's not much competion to Vettel. If yall want to talk about a great car making an average driver look good then you should focus on Webber.

Interesting point.

on a related note, I can't wait to see the race this weekend.

early predictions?

button - 1
alonso - 2
vettel - 3
hamilton - 4
webber - 5
rosberg - 6
massa - 7
senna - 8


yeah, that's right.

I just made completely unsubstantiated predictions. come at me bro.

[SuperFrog]

How high does Vettel have to place to clench the WDC?

[M3n00b]

Originally Posted by Vox Populi

on a related note, I can't wait to see the race this weekend.

early predictions?

Which race?

[kmfurdm]

Originally Posted by SuperFrogM3

How high does Vettel have to place to clench the WDC?

No higher than 10th. He needs one more point.

[cntrvrsy]

Originally Posted by Vox Populi

I hate to stay on this topic bc at the end of the day i AM a fan of Vettel's...

that being said, I was always under the impression that the driver most near the top of the points standings generally has more say about the direction and development of the car. If that is in fact the case, perhaps the input that Vettel has given and subsequently has been implemented by RBR doesn't jive with Webber's driving style. *shrug*

I think you may be right, that and the fact that Newey had stated in an interview that Webber has been struggling with the tires. But my personal feeling is that RBR clearly relegated Webber to #2 status this season. Last year, he and Vettel were practically neck and neck for most of the season until the higher ups at RBR began showing their favoritism for Vettel which gave him the upper hand and played havoc on Webber's mindset. I do not recall Webber having so many foul starts last season as he is now. For me, it just doesn't add up. I'm not implying that Webber is as good as Vettel but there wasn't quite this difference between the two last year.

[vndkshn]

But what I think Vettel brings to the team that Webber doesn't is the ability to provide input to the engineers to make the car better, where Webber seems to need a car that is right.

While Newey is an amazing designer, he wasn't successful at RBR until Vettel got there. I think that is because of what Vettel brought to the table from his time as a test driver.

[Vox Populi]

Originally Posted by M3n00b

Which race?

herp derp - next weekend