Quote:
Originally Posted by reni
Well, put it this way - how many drivers on the grid couldn't do the same thing in the fastest car? Other than a few obvious ones like Palmer, the answer is not many.
Vandoorne managing to hang on to 7th in a McHonda was a far more impressive feat.
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I'd say less than half the grid could have pulled off a clean 15 position gain from the back of the pack in the fastest car of the day, even if he really was >2s per lap every lap faster than 10th on back. And I'd only put money on 2 current drivers pulling it off (admittedly neither being Vettel). It's one thing to be in a faster car, it's another thing to attack every single lap and take positions and to manage that on a 1-stop strategy.
Funny enough, I looked up positions gained during the races this season, obviously not evidence of much of anything given all the things that go into it (i.e. qualifying well and being knocked out early, qualifying poorly and getting knocked out early) but Palmer has done quite well in this regard.
http://www.gp-hub.com/stats/f1-drive...d-this-season/
Vandoorne put in the 9th fastest lap of the day, Mclaren has a points scoring car now if nothing screws up their day and their strategy is good. Grosjean and Hulk were the only ones who put up better single laps that ended up behind him due to 2-stopping (not sure if they were damage related or not).
https://www.formula1.com/en/results....test-laps.html
Don't get me wrong I get what you're saying, it's no miracle drive out of Vettel, the only car semi-on the pace he could pass was Bottas, maybe a legend could have put that car on podium from 19th, maybe not, maybe one of those drivers is in the current field, maybe not.
It would have been great to see what Raikkonen could do from the back in a car just as quick, but alas we'll never know.