Formula One News » DC: Vettel paying price for lack of experience Posted on 01/09/2010
David Coulthard isn’t shy about backing Red Bull Racing during his television commitments with the BBC – and why shouldn’t he when he is being paid to act as a consultant to the team – but he isn’t slow to admit that there are problems in the camp either.
RBR has had its fair share of controversies in 2010 too, starting with the clash between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in Turkey, then the claims of favouritism that arose over the allocation of a new front wing at Silverstone, before reaching another nadir following Vettel’s collision with McLaren rival Jenson Button in Belgium at the weekend.
On that count, Coulthard confirms that the German has much to learn.
Writing in his regular column for Britain’s Telegraph newspaper, the Scot explains that Vettel needs to learn from the things that happen to him simply because he is lacking the experience of many of the drivers he is battling with.
“Sebastian is an unbelievably quick and talented driver,” DC began, “At 23 years of age, he has shown he can win races – and in some style too. I don’t think there are many in the paddock who believe he will never win a world title. Indeed, he may still win it this year.
“Where he is badly lacking, in comparison with the four other guys in the championship fight, is experience. Vettel has 50-odd grands prix to his name, [but] Jenson Button is a world champion with 180-odd races under his belt, Fernando Alonso is a double world champion with more than 150 grands prix behind him, [and] Mark Webber has a decade more experience than his young team-mate.
“The only title rival with a comparable race tally is Lewis Hamilton, but he arrived ready to go, having been groomed at McLaren since the age of twelve. He arrived from GP2 and did not have to move from team to team, learning the ropes.
“Sebastian moved from BMW-Sauber to Toro Rosso (where he became the sport’s youngest race winner) and is now in his second season at Red Bull, where he is in title contention for a second year running.
“I want to make it clear I am not trying to excuse Sebastian’s recent high-profile errors. He reacted poorly in Turkey after his collision with Mark. He made a silly mistake in Hungary when he fell too far behind the safety car. And he was clearly at fault in Belgium last weekend when he shunted Button out of the race. He lost control [and], all of a sudden, people are asking whether Sebastian has lost the plot; whether the pressure of being in this position is beginning to tell.
“Martin Whitmarsh fanned the flames with his post-race comments, describing Sebastian as a ‘crash kid’ and calling the drive-through penalty ‘lenient’. Martin, of course, has a vested interest in ratcheting up the pressure on his rivals, not to mention building up his own drivers at McLaren.
“I don’t think it is about pressure. The cockpit is a driver’s natural environment and, when I was racing, I never felt as if I was under pressure. Pressure comes when you feel you have lost control of a situation and, from watching Sebastian at very close quarters, I don’t see that.
“I see a young man who is suffering from his first spell of growing pains. He is trying to stay calm and focused. He is trying not to let the criticism affect him, just as he didn’t let the praise go to his head.
“When he looks back at Spa, he will realise that he didn’t need to pass Jenson at that point. He had the faster car and it would have come to him eventually. But you only have to look at what happened to Fernando to realise that anyone can make mistakes in those conditions.
“The bottom line is Sebastian is a seriously quick driver who has made a few costly mistakes through lack of experience. I am not excusing them — as I have said before, F1 is no finishing school — I’m just saying they are understandable.”
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