Good news first:
“For me he’s too young… He’s never driven a Formula 1 car, or he has driven it in a straight line or whatever… I’m surprised a team would put a guy like this in the car. For me it’s not right.
…at his age it could absolutely destroy his career. If it goes well, it’s fantastic, but it’s on a knife’s edge…
There’s so much to learn. He’s proved that he’s quick and I’m sure he’s going to be reasonably quick. Is he going to be as quick as [Sebastien] Bourdais? I shouldn’t think so, he definitely won’t be here…. But it could end his dream of being competitive in F1… Not having driven an F1 car around a circuit, I’m surprised he’s been allowed to race this weekend. I say good luck to him – it’s a risk he’s willing to take and for his sake I hope he does a good job.
Sebastian Vettel, the Red Bull Racing Sr. Apologist:
I think in the end if there is anything to criticise then I think it is the rules. As you can see, you end up having a situation that a driver is entering F1 without having done a single test.
So I think it is extremely difficult for young drivers, independent from their age, the next generation, to get to F1 as you have no chance to prove yourself. You have only one or two days….
Bad news, second:
Jaime Alguersuari is screwed.
Everyone says the biggest shock to newcomers in F1 after the turn speed is the brakes. His rib cage is going to hurt after the weekend. Then after that, the upshifts… well, they used to feel like punches to the chest, but with the development in transmissions I doubt this is the case anymore. Stupid seamless shift.
I was at the 2007 USGP. I was there early at the track Friday morning, outside the paddock collecting autographs, along with what looked like one big mass of Scuerdia groupies, who kind of just formed an amoeba and absorbed any other fan who was in the area.
Vettel comes walking in. Now I’m no tall man myself, only 5′ 7″ (67 cm for you ‘peans) and I’m thinking – “hey, I can take this kid. wtf? lol BMW believes this is the future?! LOL” too bad they didn’t… I hope they got a sweet deal out of that. Because no doubt he’d be 2008 champion, blasting past Kubica.
Anyways… small guy. No doubt. But he had tests before that.
Perhaps Scuderia Torro Rosso will say “oh, well he’s really proven himself in the simulator.” And I’m pretty good at rFactor too! You don’t see me in an F1 car!
Something bad will have to happen for a change to occur. Crashes the leader out, or anybody. Causing some issue to affect the world championship. Then everyone will cry to the FIA, “for as strict as you are on F1 with rules and everything, but you just hand out F1 superlicense?! WTF?! How does that make sense?!”
Until then, it won’t change unfortunately. Maybe this is something for the GPDA to tackle, to request a change, in the name of drivers safety. And if teams want to cry, “well, they’re testing aero parts! how come they get to do that and we can’t?!” Then just throw him in a car that’s a couple of years old. An F2004 is still the fastest beast alive folks. Besides, all they do is crank on max downforce like they did to Jeff Gordon when SPEED did the Trading Paint and he drove the Williams.
I don’t think the FIA thought this through too well.
