Vettel no spoiled brat, says Horner
Sebastian Vettel is no spoiled brat and his angry outbursts – plus behaviour like Baku – are just signs of how hungry he is to win, reckons his former boss Christian Horner.
Vettel is locked in a tight championship battle with Lewis Hamilton, and courted controversy last month when he swerved into Hamilton behind the safety car in Baku.
While some have viewed Vettel's behaviour – including numerous radio outbursts – as evidence of him feeling the pressure, Horner sees things very differently.
He believes instead that Vettel has always been an emotional man behind the wheel, simply because he is so fiercely competitive.
"I think Sebastian, he wears his heart on his sleeve and he is involved in a very intense battle," said Horner.
"He sees an opportunity to be a champion again this year and he knows he's going to need everything going his way against Mercedes to achieve that.
"He has zero filter between what he thinks and what he says sometimes or what he does and that's the great side of him. But sometimes it gets him in hot water as well."
Schumacher traits
Horner, who helped take Vettel to four consecutive titles with Red Bull between 2010 and 2013, sees similarities between the German and Michael Schumacher.
"Sebastian is a great character," he said. "You don't see much of his character perhaps in his current environment. He's a fun guy, he loves British humour, he's very good with the mechanics of teams."
"He turned up here [at Red Bull] always with chocolates for the receptionists and girls around the factory.
"He was always very generous not in just gifting something to the team but also for the whole factory. He spent hours signing stuff and investing into the team.
"He's got this huge desire within him, the records mean a lot to him. Michael Schumacher was very much his idol and I think what we see sometimes is that killer instinct of 'I wanna win', sometimes at all costs.
When asked if he felt that Ferrari should be better tempering Vettel's intensity, Horner said: "I think it's a matter of channelling it. But Ferrari is an emotional team, and the Latin fuels that emotion.
"I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but it shows he's human at the end of the day and shows how hungry he is to achieve that ultimate goal."
Ferrari future
Vettel does not have a contract beyond the end of this year and, while Horner says he would be surprised to see the German move away from Ferrari, he suspects Mercedes are courting him for 2019.
"I'd be amazed if he left," he said. "I would think he's got Toto in his ear trying to say extend for a year and then he's probably got Ferrari saying it's three years or nothing.
"I guess he wants to see through what he started at Ferrari. He went there for a reason, to build something and very much emulate what Michael had done. Stepping out now with the progress they have would be a job half done."
He is coming across as a brat though, even complaining about Verstappen doing to him what he himself had done literally 1 corner before. I hope none of his tantrums result in a DNF. We have an intriguing season and would hate to see the outcome affected by temperament.
I think if anyone knows Seb well it's Horner. After all he worked with him long enough to get a deep insight into his character. To win 4 championships back to back he must be fiercely competitive but we wouldn't want him any other way. He's trying to emulate his great role model Michael.
I cannot see Horner praising an opponent if it wasn't richly deserved.
We see snapshots of Seb's character carefully edited to make him appear the fall guy imo
Forza Jules
He's been linked to mercs for 2019. Let's see how it turns out. If he finds no scope in terms of development of car or challenging for win. He would call it off n sign for mercs in 2019. That too would be revealed after 2018 summer break.
Seb must see Lewis as the current driver emulating Schumy, breaking records and doing it at Merc where Schumy chose to end his career, not @ Ferrari. Imagine what he's going through, "Stay, Don't stay". Is Merc his "Home away from home? " As was Schumy's choice! And now with Lewis' 5th home win, there's only 1 pt. between them.
No- one will ever be able to match Schumi at Ferrari.
1996-2006..11 seasons.
He got a lot of money for it, but oh my god..I never have changed my opinion so much about a driver joining Ferrari during the 40 years I have supported the Scuderia.
There were not only the races, but only all the in-season testing where he worked his butt off.
I cannot believe there will be anyone in the future to match him in our car..
Thanks legend Schumi
Forza Ferrari, Seb and Kimi
I think F1 should come to their senses and allow testing again. I think Vettel would love it.
HAM has had the benefit of the best car since 2014 and the V6 turbo-hybrid era, likewise Seb had the best car with RB before that, Schumi had the best car for maybe 2 seasons 2002/2004, so there is no way that HAM can match Schumi's achievements given equal circumstances. Seb is giving his all for Ferrari and has a similar mind-set to Schumi, so I hope to God he stays with us.
Totally agree with everything here Wisepie.
I really hope Seb stays with us. He's great for the marque, works hard for the team and is a class act. I thought when he learned to speak Italian before he joined us it just showed how really committed he is to the Scuderia and wants to be with us.
Arrivabene wasn't joking when he said "Why would I want Hamilton when I have got Vettel" I couldn't agree more with him!!!!!
Forza Jules
I would like Vettel to do the 1 year deal at Ferrari and then we have to go all in for Verstappen Next Year, I'm talking buying out contracts etc. What's the point in spending 135 million on Vettel if we can buy out Verstappen for less.
I would say we need to forget all this "experienced driver" stuff and go out and get the best young drivers available, and they are Verstappen and Riccardo, both of them have multiple titles in them in the right car, both have outstanding racecraft offensively and defensively and both are rapid.
Vettel is not a top 3 driver in F1 imo, that will shock some people but I actually rate Hamilton, Alonso, Riccardo and Verstappen above him.
In the right car at the right time, Vettel can win titles no question, but we don't need to be held to ransom with Vettel telling us we have to keep kimi if we want him to stay, there are better drivers out of contact in the next couple of years.
Ferrari should pull both max & DR to Ferrari team if vet goes out.
They have good understanding as a pair. No parities.
Both will extract maximum out of the car which is good for WCC.
I also agree with much of what you've said, but I think you're doing Seb an injustice, yes he's getting a bit desperate on occasions but he's a real fighter just like Verstappen, something I wouldn't have said when he was at RB and our main competitor!! As for Ferrari needing an experienced driver in the second car, I think those days are over and we should take a chance on a young driver, otherwise why have the Driver Academy.
Last edited by wisepie; 22nd July 2017 at 17:12.
I miss Felipe Massa
Seriously i don't understand why the keep denying Alonso's return. He was delivering with a more inferior car back then.
This the exact reason why Alonso left Ferrari & some Vettel fanboys said he will do what Alonso couldn't as he is the one who developed some good cars :D
I don't think Alonso would want to return as it will be same situation when he left. Ideally we would want a driver who is willing to drive for Ferrari & takes this up as an honour & challenge to make SF return to the top. That man could be Max
But why can't this be Seb? I still believe he is the man that sees driving for Ferrari as an honour & challenge to get the team back to the top.
You don't know if Mercedes will be the team to beat from 2019 onwards. It would be something if Verstappen joins Ferrari and Red Bull 'suddenly'
would be the top car of the field
Verstappen in a 'second- or third-best' Ferrari F1- car..Oh my..All these orange- caps showing their white handkerchiefs in the stands .
Lot of people draw similarities between Seb & MS, but there's huge difference between the two. MS had guts & determination to leave a team with whom he won back to back titles & come to a team who hadn't won anything in a decade & a half, help that team return on the top ( ofcourse he wasn't the only one behind the success, but others like Brawn, Todt & other engineers). He had to wait 4 years until he got what he wanted
Seb seems to be more inclined in having the best car & loves all the stats. He sat during entire RB dominance era knowing he had those championships up for grabs, even though his love for Ferrari was no secret. Only after when RB fell behind & a new team mate beat him, he thought it's the right time to persuade his dream. Again, his interest in Mercedes is visible, Marchionne wants longer commitment, let's see what happens in future but I don't think his love for Ferrari is superseding his desire to win titles, be it with any other team
Last edited by Rishu; 23rd July 2017 at 12:02.
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