BUXTON: A Question Of Perception

Formula 1

BUXTON: A Question Of Perception

Sebastian Vettel is letting his emotions affect his performance as the battle for the World Championship heats up...

Will Buxton | Posted August 29, 2010 Francorchamps (BEL)

Will Buxton joined the SPEED/FOX Sports Formula One broadcast team in 2010 with reports from the grid. (Photo: SPEED)

As I put pen to paper, or finger to keyboard as I guess the modern adage would run, the rain is still pelting down outside the window of the media center here at Spa-Francorchamps. After the summer break, the assembled media throng of the Formula One world has a great race to write about and a tantalizing championship battle to sink its teeth into.

But while most of the talk around me is of the changeable weather conditions and what my many colleagues are quickly drawing to be one of Lewis Hamilton’s finest Formula One victories, there is another thread of discussion which hangs in the air and in some quarters makes for the bigger talking point of the race.

It hangs on something I mentioned during the SPEED broadcast of the Belgian Grand Prix – namely, the Formula One paddock’s increasing questions over the maturity of Sebastian Vettel.

That Vettel has ability is in no doubt. He’s a frighteningly fast driver, and without question one of the most naturally gifted talents of this and the future generation. But he has also repeatedly shown himself to be mentally fragile and, some say, immature.
I have to admit that I am torn on the issue.

VIDEO: Belgian GP Results Eventual winner Lewis Hamilton slides off course in Belgium. (Image: SPEED)

I like Seb. I really do. He’s a great guy, very funny, personable and popular. But in recent weeks his luster has started to dull somewhat. His answers have become clipped, his demeanor slightly more ill at ease. Is this the weight of a championship battle hanging heavy upon him, or something a little less savory? Is it an arrogance? Or is it plain frustration? Frustration that he has the best car in Formula One but isn’t beating his own teammate, let alone lead the World Championship?

Frankly I feel it is the latter. His reaction to the drive-through penalty he was handed in Hungary showed the world just how difficult he finds it to contain such emotions, and ultimately that isn’t healthy for a racing driver. What happens when a driver allows his frustrations to bubble over is that he starts to lose his control and make silly mistakes, all of which only lead to a heightened sense of frustration and in turn a greater loss of control.

And, to my mind, that’s Seb’s biggest problem. He’s letting it all get on top of him. The pressure, the frustrations and the mistakes are all building into something far greater than the individual parts should merit. He needs to compartmentalize them and rub each one out in turn rather than trying to face them all down at once.

A colleague asked a pertinent question after the race. Seb is a great driver, he said, but is he a great racer?

It is a fine question, for while he has undoubted pace, he does seem to get himself into pickles which frankly don't seem necessary. And far from learning from them, he seems to repeat them. He’s been handed drive-throughs in the past two races for moments of complete brain fade, first in Hungary for falling asleep under the safety car and second in Spa for his ill-judged move on Jenson Button.

Now before you get all upset, no I don’t want to see overtaking stop in Formula One. I don’t want drivers to be so scared of penalties that they stop racing. But to have not given Seb a penalty for the Button incident would have set a dangerous precedent that you can take out a rival on track and not face a penalty. Yes it was, to an extent, a racing incident. But the blame for it lay exclusively at Vettel’s door. He was the one who made the move, he was the one who hit the bump and he was the one who speared into Button’s left rear. Seb has apologized to Jenson, which is a hugely positive thing as the German has at least realized that he was in the wrong, rather than waving it off as a simple race accident.

An incident such as Vettel and Mark Webber coming together in Turkey was less clear cut. Six of one, half a dozen of the other if you will. Because if you go wheel to wheel with a rival and it all goes south, at least you’ve taken it to them fairly, just as with Liuzzi in Spa. Vettel made the pass, Liuzzi aimed to defend, and ultimately both suffered as a result.

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The problem for Vettel is perception. His reaction to his drive-through in Hungary, the way he acted in Turkey and Silverstone with regard to his teammate and the impression that he doesn’t want to play ball unless he is winning has left many experienced paddock sages with the impression that Sebastian Vettel is acting like a spoiled child who isn’t getting his own way. He’s kicking and screaming and throwing his toys out of the pram. In short, the man nicknamed Baby Schumi is acting a little bit too much like a baby, and little bit too much like Schumi.

While the reality isn’t quite so drastic, it is the impression and the perception which lingers longest. I think Seb realizes this, as he’s taken one of Red Bull’s press officers into his direct employ to handle how his public profile is handled.

Christian Horner admitted after the Belgium race that Seb still has “a lot to learn” about Formula One, and with Webber intimating that the team will need to put all its weight behind one driver (i.e. him) in the fight for the title before too long, Seb’s character may never face a truer test.

Because right now while some are questioning whether Vettel can be World Champion in 2010, there is a section within this sport which is asking if, when one considers the mistakes he has made and the manner in which he has held himself, he even deserves to be.

Will Buxton joined SPEED as a Formula One grid reporter just before the start of the 2010 season. The founding Editor of GPWeek magazine, Buxton served as the GP2 press officer from 2004 to the end of the 2007 season, and was sole communications/media representative for 2006 and 2007. The native of Great Britain has been covering single-seater racing (F1, GP2, F2 and F3) since 2002. Check out Will’s Blog, follow him on Twitter or visit his MY SPEED page on SPEED.com.

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Will Buxton

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