davidm schrieb:
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> I'm not sure Vettel proved himself in a poor car
> like the others, particularly Senna and Alonso.
> Toro Rosso 2008 finished up 3rd or fourth best car
> on the grid.
Neither did either of the other three
> get seen off like Vettel this year. Perhaps
> Vettel's actual level is why Ricciardo could be
> questioned.
Not? What about Alonso this year? Or his season at McLaren where he made many atypical mistakes? Vettel has proven that he can drive, cause he won 4 championships. He has proven that he can overtake and drive good races from the back of the field, especially when the RB got less wing and better topspeed than in a normal race, simply because RBs philosophy has never been to overtake but to drive a race from the head of the grid. And he has proven that he can adapt to changing cars, cause it's not the first time in his RB career that important systems were not allowed anymore.
And now Daniel Ricciardo comes fresh to RB and is constantly faster than him. IMO that doesn't make him the better driver, but it surely shows that he is a damn good driver. I think that he got one advantage over Vettel this season. Vettel was used a very straight car in the past years, while the STR was known to be very nervous, especially on the back end. The new Turbo engines make the cars very nervous on the rear, and possibly Ricciardo was simply better used to this situation than Vettel was. But Ricciardo also showed impressive speed at the end of last season, and there STR wasn't that good in fact. So I think, with the right material, Ricciardo has what it takes to become a champion. And Vettel will share the same fate as Alonso at Ferrari.
GPGSL : Team Owner of 'Maverick Track Performance' (MTP)