Where's the love for Seb Vettel?

Sebastian Vettel is on the brink of etching his name in the record books and further cementing his legacy. He is on the verge of joining the late great Juan Manuel Fangio (1954-57) and his compatriot Michael Schumacher (who won a record five; 2000-04) as the only drivers to have secured four consecutive World Championships.

So absolute has been his domination, that he has won every race since the Summer Break with his victory at Suzuka being his fifth win on the bounce. He now stands a chance to have a go at Alberto Ascari’s celebrated record of nine consecutive wins. These are phenomenal statistics for a driver who’s still at the tender age of 26.

He has driven with supreme confidence and demonstrated a level of ruthlessness and discipline that is seldom seen. He has also displayed a level of maturity way beyond his years and has somehow despite all his success maintained a level of hunger to win and achieve more. These are qualities that can hold him in good stead as he continues his pursuit for greatness. There is a distinct possibility that he could one day push to become the most successful driver of all time.

Despite all of this he seems like an affable chap who has kept his head on his shoulders and been able to deflect all the hatred and negativity that the all the naysayers hurl in his direction: and there is an abundance of that.

For some inexplicable reason he has gained a lot of detractors. I believe that it is down to the fact that human beings are inherently envious. They simply do not want people to get too much success as it somehow magnifies their own insecurities and that in turn spews hatred or disapproval in the direction of the person who has gathered a tremendous amount of success. My take is that this is when someone who they do not love, achieves a hell of a lot; it somehow enhances their own feelings of inadequacy.

As a result, there have been growing murmurs that Sebastian is just an extremely lucky individual who wins races at a canter because the machinery at his disposal is just so formidable.

Drivers such as Fernando Alonso and in particular Lewis Hamilton, have rather enviously consistently tried to attribute all of the German’s success to the Red Bull’s sheer pace over the rest of the grid. They have endlessly tried to insinuate that they are fighting against the grain battling with inferior cars.

Hamilton has even made statements like the Red Bull is unbeatable and that is the reason Vettel keeps on taking the chequered flag, thereby making thinly veiled attempts at trying to undermine his considerable feats. Furthermore, he has consistently tried to convey that he and Alonso drivers are in fact far superior and that they and not Vettel are the apex drivers of their generations.

True, Adrian Newey and his team have outperformed the rest of the teams but it is grossly unfair to not recognise the enormity of his accomplishments. To outperform and completely destroy Mark Webber, who is no slouch by the way, is not an easy task and for the last five years Vettel has made relatively short work of that. That in itself is an indicator of the sort of caliber he possesses.

I personally am of the opinion that instead trying to belittle a great champion’s accomplishments people should follow Kimi Raikkonen’s approach. He recognises that Vettel is an affable young man who has achieved a lot and will go down the annals of history as one of the greats and we should actually celebrate the fact that we are witnessing a young man achieve such unprecedented heights instead of trying to tear him down.

Another sad thing is that fans have also started to resent Vettel for his success and the ease with which he seems to be acquiring it.

This is primarily because Formula 1 is unlike any other sport. When a great athlete like a Michael Jordan or a Roger Federer is able to display their abilities we know we are in the presence of greatness. We as lay fans can appreciate the aesthetic beauty of what we are beholding and their brilliance enthralls us.

But in Formula 1, when an individual is able to stamp his authority on the rest of the grid he is able to pull away from the grid and deprives the audience what they yearn: close wheel to wheel racing at the front end of the grid. Hence, the sport’s spectacle ends up suffering in a manner of speaking. So ironically it is Vettel’s supremacy which has alienated the fans against him. That is an adverse and ultimately unavoidable consequence of his triumphs.

But despite all of these criticisms and detractors who never hesitate from having a go at him he has managed to keep his head on his shoulders and has in fact managed to go about his business like a thorough professional. On the contrary he seems to revel in the negativity and proving his detractors wrong seems to be an added incentive to go out and crush the field on a bi-weekly basis.

People seem to claim that he is never pushed and ultimately he has had it too easy. But they fail to take notice that when his back has been against the wall he has come out fighting and his will to win invariably pulls his through. His drives last year at Abu Dhabi and Interlagos are testament to this fact.

Whenever he does seal the deal and joins Schumacher, Prost and Fangio in their esteemed company, the world should let of their contempt and laud Vettel because he is doing things that very few men can even dream of doing and at the rate he is going he will probably outstrip all the men that have come before him. We are watching a greatness unfold. Let us all take a step back and finally recognise it.