Flavio Briatore says Sebastian Vettel’s dominance is due to Red Bull’s car – Formula 1 news
Former owner of Renault F1, Flavio Briatore says that Sebastian Vettel is currently not the best driver in Formula 1 and his dominance is only due to the fast Red Bull car.
His comments come in after Vettel was crowned the youngest double world champion, and has had a dominating 2011 season. It was so dominating that the championship title was decided four races before the season ended, boasting of nine victories from 15 races.
Yet Briatore feels Vettel is not the fastest out there.
“Vettel is definitely good,” Briatore is quoted by Corriere dello Sport. “But he has won because he has been the best to manage his phenomenal (Red Bull) machine. He is not the best. Imagine a race with everyone racing the same car; Vettel would be behind
Fernando Alonso and also Lewis Hamilton.”
Briatore comments come in at a time when some critics have already been talking about how good Vettel really is, and even suggesting that Vettel might be looking into joining Ferrari to prove he is amongst the best in Formula 1. The issue everyone raises
is that Vettel has been dominant but how much of that dominance is exuding from the Red Bull car.
Ross Brawn who helped Schumacher become the force he was, had also commented earlier that Vettel will be going down the same rout as Schumacher and join a team with a slower car to prove his mettle. Although he did say this is not the best time for him to
change teams, rather later when he feels he needs some fresh challenge.
Ferrari principal Stefano Domenicali also suggested that Vettel might be looking to join Ferrari to prove that he is good enough to win championships even with a slower car.
Briatore did admit though that Vettel is the fastest in one lap and to him, he regards Lewis Hamilton as second and Fernando Alonso as third.
It would be interesting to see how Vettel decides to respond to this growing suspicion over his ability to be a world champion without the Red Bull car. Such comments are also sure to stir up some decisions the German will make come 2014 when his Red Bull
contract ends.
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