AngusF1 wrote: ↑10 Aug 2018, 05:07
univex wrote: ↑10 Aug 2018, 04:16
there are aspects to a car's development that are common across both drivers which favour a particular driver or driving style. Whilst set up is as per the driver, aero and engine in particular can (and is) developed around one driver.
Example Red Bull 2010...
Good point. I recall a similar issue at Red Bull during that era when an aero inconsistency was identified which Webber could happily drive around but Vettel found disturbing. Resources were devoted to quickly fix the "problem" which was affecting their preferred driver.
[Disclaimer: I'm not sure which season this was in and admittedly could be remembering poorly, so happy to be corrected if anyone has a better idea of that episode.]
The instance that you are talking about, was at the beginning of 2012 season. After the EBD was banned and the exhaust positioning was changed, RB8 was struggling with rear end instability.
The so called "Webber could happily drive around but Vettel found disturbing", lasted for 3 GPs. By 4th race of the season, Vettel bolted the RB8 on pole and after that, Vettel was largely ahead of Webber throughout the season.
Besides, Webber didn't do particularly great in those first 3 qualifyings of the season either and only qualified 5th, 4th and 7th respectively. If anything, having dominated 2011, Vettel's rhythm got thrown off with a car whose behavior was drastically different than the predecessor. It can happen to any driver. When the car got great rear end stability, which every driver wants, Vettel was ahead of Webber.
Launch Version
https://www.f1technical.net/development ... once-again
Mid-Season
Anyone can drive a good car. Good drivers can drive any car. Sensitive drivers can only drive good car. Bad drivers can't drive any car.
Every team tries to build a Good Car and not one that suits A PARTICULAR DRIVER. It's just that, sometimes when there is a deficiency in a Good Car, it requires a Good Driver to overcome that deficiency and get the car to do what he wants. Webber was just a useless driver and I say this, because he couldn't do much with RB7, which was probably one of the Greatest cars ever designed and got beaten to second place by a Great driver driving much less than a Good Car.
Relative to Alonso and Hamilton, Vettel is a sensitive driver (not in the league of Kimi, far less) and need the car to be in a great place and if it, then he is as good as Alonso and Hamilton. Alonso is better than Hamilton in that sense and can quickly adjust to any problematic car. So, it becomes easy for a team to explore all areas of performance when they have a driver like Alonso, where they don't have to be bothered by the driver's potential limitations and can push the envelop of design (it's another story that he has landed in bad cars).
The summary is, teams design a fast car and expect their drivers to get adjusted and drive it. Whoever does it better, team tends to listen to their feedback more and from that sense, that driver would have a greater say in the development direction.
Once the team fixed the rear end instability of RB8 and the car became a race winning car, who won the races and championship?