Don't think so. Leclerc is a monster. This is why gap is huge with Vettel. Stroll will be dominated by Vettel, no doubt.
I wouldn't bet against Stroll. I'm not saying he is an awesome driver, but at least he is improving, and all Vettel is doing is getting worse. My prediction is Stroll will be ahead in points at the end of next season.
On the basis of what we saw in Portugal, that’s highly unlikely..! If, by improving, you mean his ability to crash and get time penalties, you are right.
I think it’s fair to look at the gap of last year between Vettel and Lec. This year, him knowing they don’t want him any more with a car which clearly doesn’t suit him and without the teams supporting him clearly I don’t think it’s really relevant to see the difference between him and Lec. The difference between him and Lec wasn’t big last year. In my opinion they were on par with each other. Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met FerrariChat
2019 Seb vs Leclerc Leclerc has 264pts and 3 DNF's or out of the points. Seb has 240pts and 5 DNF's or out of the points. Note; this is Leclerc's 1st yr with Ferrari and 2nd yr in F1.
Last year was only the second year in formula one for Charles. And he already dominated Vettel. With more experience he will be stronger and stronger. He is a smart guy too able to learn quickly to improve himself. Gap with Vettel is genuine this year ( as Seb admit this precise fact this week-end).
I predict that in the post-Hamilton era, Leclerc will become the dominant driver. However, I have my doubt if that will happend when he is at Ferrari.
Interesting. My $ is on Max. Regardless we might see a remake of Senna/Prost with Leclerc/Verstappen.
Same here. I think Max has more raw speed. No doubt Leclerc is also very very fast and right up there in the top tier. Put then in competitive cars and both could win wdc. Put them in equal machinery and it would be a battle royal all season long. They are the only drivers on today’s grid that could compete with Hamilton on equal terms.
People also handily forget that Ferrari were actively crewing CL in favor of SV. The gap would have been much wider if CL was allowed to race to his full potential.
With Charles very obvious about frustration. This the worst mistake by Binotto. Seb needed to be told he was going to be competing with Charles not favored. I think that is part of a Vettel problem, included with 4 titles - Vettel feels he is better than he is. Now see's maybe he has problems in adaptability and race - craft.
Vettel has been so bad I also thought Stroll would run him close but last weekend showed just how much worse Stroll can be—he’s like a half second behind his car—that I would agree with you!
Vettel is far from a bad driver. What has been clear in the last 2 seasons and 2014 however, is that he doesn't adapt well to cars that don't suit his driving style. Particularly this shortage was amplified by being teamed with 2 very good teammates. Ferrari hasn't done anything about the rear end that Vettel asked for improvement for 2 years now (incidentally, now that he's leaving they'll work on it for 2021...). The way the break up was handled and receiving zero support (to a point understandable, since he's leaving), Binotto utterly out his depth...Vettel has taken to simply cruising around collecting his paycheck. He knows he'll be in a semi-decent car next year. IIRC Aston Martin will have the same rear end as this years Mercedes. We know how well Vettel drives when he's comfortable in the car. If Vettel is comfortable, good luck Stroll, lol.
He needs to adapt to the Mercedes. There is no certain point he will be successful in the Cheat Clone. He may be ineffective as well. This will be the story of next year. Already his 'greatness' is under question and actually has proven to be less than 'great'. Finding mid pack difficulty and not dominating Stroll will end any appearance of a good legacy for Vettel. He should have retired. If Aston do not make improvements in strategy and team coordination, Vettel will be disappointed, and he does little to hide that. This is not a team fully succeeding this year. IF anything they are under-performing consistently. Guest drivers making the progress. Id be very very concerned if I was Vettel. His appearance will not alone cure the obvious structural problems in the organization.
Aston-Mercedes? Stronger ties between companies foreshadows/reflects F1? https://www.bbc.com/news/business-54712376 Aston Martin: Mercedes to take 20% stake in luxury brand Published 2 hours ago Image Unavailable, Please Login image copyrightReuters Germany's Mercedes-Benz is to raise its stake in Aston Martin Lagonda as part of the UK carmaker's recovery plan. Aston Martin, which has haemorrhaged cash since a disastrous stock market flotation, said Mercedes will increase its holding "in stages" from 5% to 20%. The announcement, made after the London stock market closed, called the deal a "strategic technology agreement". It comes months after Formula One team owner Lawrence Stroll took a majority stake in the British luxury marque. The deal will give Aston Martin, whose profitability over the decades has never matched its status as one of Britain's premier brands, access to Mercedes' electric car technology. Mercedes first teamed up with Aston Martin in 2013, taking a 5% stake in a deal that saw the two companies work on engine development. Aston Martin, popularly known as James Bond's favourite car company, has plans to grow sales to about 10,000 by 2025, up from 5,862 vehicles sold last year. The company also said on Tuesday that it had a long-term strategy to increase its revenues to £2bn and attain earnings of about £500m in five years' time. Image Unavailable, Please Login image copyrightReuters image captionFour Aston Martins will feature in the next Bond movie, No Time To Die Mr Stroll, a Canadian billionaire and executive chairman of Aston Martin, said: "This is a transformational moment for Aston Martin. It is the result of six months of enormous effort to position the company for success to capture the huge and exciting opportunity ahead of us." Wolf-Dieter Kurz, head of product strategy at Mercedes-Benz Cars, said: "With this new expanded partnership, we will be able to provide Aston Martin with access to new cutting-edge powertrain and software technologies and components, including next generation hybrid and electric drive systems." The first stage of the investment deal will see Mercedes increase its stake to 11.8% as part of a £140m share issue. Aston Martin's shares have crashed since the company was floated on the London stock market in 2018 at £19 each. By the time chief executive Andy Palmer was eased out in May, the price was down 94% as investors bailed on fears over falling sales and rising costs. Mr Palmer was replaced by Tobias Moers, the former head of Mercedes' performance car division AMG. Separately on Tuesday, Aston Martin posted a £29m pre-tax loss for the third quarter, down from a £43m profit in the same period last year.
Well, yes. Like I said, he's far from a bad driver, 2008-2013 clearly showed that (though still some mistakes earlier in those years). If next years car will have a decent rear end he'll be quick. Not WDC quick, of course, because he'll be driving the wrong car...but he'll be much quicker and suddenly look like a good driver again. From the top of my head, 90s onwards only 4 drivers where able to drive a bad car well...Schumacher, Alonso, Max and Leclerc.
The thought of Vettel positioned vs Stroll to regain his reputation is the indication of how far he has gone down. That is how he will show he is good again? Not the ideal end of career for one with 4 WDC no?? Stroll is no reference of note. This is really amazing that we have Stroll to reference a 4x WDC lol. Wow.
2019 there was a much smaller gap between him and Leclerc. Same rear end on that car. You're not telling me that Vettel lost half a second in a single year to his teammate. Ain't happening. He's getting zero support, the way the team handled everything so far, despite Vettel's multiple attempts to remain amicable, means he's given up at Ferrari. I can understand it (both Ferrari not supporting him and Vettel giving up). Dont approve of it. But he's not a bad driver you and others think he is. Early this decade with a good rear end he was untouchable. Yes, he is one of those drivers that need a car to suit him to do well, that much has been made very clear. But he's hardly incompetent. Stroll isn't his reference by choice. They where the team that gave him the drive. Stroll just happens to be the teammate.
Not a bad driver though his waste of position and lead for 2 titles cannot be ignored. He makes bad decisions and poorly timed mistakes. Weak overall race craft for a 4x WDC. The story is now how he lacks skill, adaptability. Over rated. He appears to just not be as skilled or good as was in the past. Exposed.
He certainly lacks adaptability. Lewis suffered in that as well, mind you. I think only Alonso, Schumacher and Max adapt well to difficult cars. Leclerc possible, or this car suits his driving style I don't know. For 2017/18 Vettel needed a perfect season to win the title, and luck with Mercedes tripping over themselves. Mistakes made by Ferrari and Vettel, few by Mercedes. He never had the dominant car. All he did was lose the small chance he had to win a title, he didn't lose it to a worse car.
As I´ve said before, it´s obvious that Vettel is not so bad as he looks now, it´s just that neither Ferrari nor him give a **** about this. And I agree in that he never had a car to win the championship. But Vettel´s latest seasons led to this situation: Ferrari is not going to support a very expensive driver who can´t deliver more than a rookie just because he´s a nice guy with some old records. He got a good last chance at Scuderia Stroll: his team mate is not that strong and if he starts the season with some good results, he can recover confidence and the team will support him. But his days of glory are over.
