Formula One - David Coulthard and Niki Lauda advise Sebastian Vettel
Two of the most professional former drivers Niki Lauda and David Coulthard warned Sebastian Vettel that he would not be able to win the drivers’ championship unless he takes cautious approach in racing in the remaining six grand prix.
Niki Lauda began his journey with team March back in 1971 but did not compete in the full season with them. Niki’s first full season was with team BRM before joining Ferrari to begin his dominance in the year 1975 when he won his first championship with the help of 5 wins, 8 podiums and 9 pole positions. Lauda was not able to retain his title, as he finished 2nd with 68 points the following year. The 3-time world champion regained his title in 1977 with 72 points with the help of just 3 wins, 10 podiums and 2 pole positions. Niki had to leave Ferrari the following year to join Brabham for 2 years and was not able to perform very well with them. The 61-year-old left the Formula 1 but decided to come back in 1982 with McLaren and won the championship for the third time with 72 points in 1984.
The German has proved to be a supreme qualifier in spite of a couple of silly mistakes resulting into accidents and retirements.
“You're an absolute super-talent but you've taken excessive risks. One more mistake and your world championship will be over. Then you will have to drive for your team-mate, which would be the ultimate penalty,” Lauda said of Vettel in Bild newspaper.
Sebastian Vettel joined the Formula 1 recently in 2007 with BMW Sauber Toro Rosso, and scored 6 points in just 8 races. This shocked the critics who believed that the driver should be a full time driver in the Formula 1 keeping in mind neither Toro Rosso nor BMW Sauber were not the best of teams. Sebastian decided to race in his first full season with Toro Rosso, scored a win and a pole, and blew everyone in the Formula 1 away with his outstanding driving. The German managed to impress Red Bull by scoring 35 points to secure the 8th place and joined the team for 2 years in 2009. Vettel finally got to drive in a good team and managed to keep the momentum, as he scored 84 points with the help of 4 wins, 8 podiums and 4 pole positions to secure the 2nd place in the drivers’ standings behind the current world champion Jenson Button. The 23-year-old is currently in 3rd place ahead of Jenson Button with 151 points just 31 points behind the championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
“The pressure can be paralysing, because everyone expects you to be in front and everything else is a disappointment,” Lauda added.
David Coulthard joined team Williams in 1994 to begin his career in the Formula 1. The British scored 49 points to secure the 3rd place in his second season in the sport before joining McLaren the following year. David stayed with the team for 9 years, and scored the performances of his career with them. Coulthard scored a number of 3rd positions and a 2nd place in the drivers’ standings with the team. His best performance was in the year 2001, when the British scored 65 points and was challenging Michael Schumacher for the championship until the very end of the season. David joined Red Bull after leaving McLaren in 2005, and was not able to score very good performances in his 4-year time with the team. The 39-year-old was not able to score over 10th place in the drivers’ standings during this time and decided to retire after 2008.
Coulthard, who still holds an advisory role for Red Bull believes that Vettel is young and he is bound to make mistakes due to lack of experience.
“I see a young man who is suffering from his first spell of growing pains. I am not excusing them [the mistakes] - as I have said before, F1 is no finishing school - I'm just saying they are understandable,” Coulthard told the Telegraph.
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