[ad_1]
Former Formula One rider Eddie Irvine has named four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel a "one-off pony" in a scathing badessment of the Ferrari driver.
Irvine described Vettel as "overwhelmingly overestimated" and stated that he did not understand how Germany had obtained four successive titles between 2010 and 2014.
He also said that Lewis Hamilton was the best rider of that time, but that the five-time British world champion "was not even close" to Michael Schumacher.
The Northern Irishman, Irvine, raced for Ferrari from 1996 to 1999 and finished second in the 1999 championship, as well as Jordan and Jaguar in a high-profile career including four wins.
Irvine, now 53, does not stop to talk about the current stature of the sport.
"Formula 1 was still very popular when Michael and I were racing," he said. "I think it was a more exciting time but it's less popular now."
Schumacher & # 39; a different world & # 39;
Irvine raced for Ferrari from 1996 to 1999 and says his current driver, Sebastian Vettel, is a "one-off pony" despite his four Formula 1 championships
Although he admits that he follows Formula 1 with less interest than in the past, Irvine does not hesitate to comment on the current number of drivers.
"I think Lewis is in a different league from all of them," said Irvine, although this eulogy is tarnished by comparison. "He's not in Michael's league and I do not even think he's close, though he's accumulating many wins." He has the best car, there are more races and the competition is debatable.
"I think Vettel is good he's on the front and there's no one in the race." When we watch Lewis run, he's focused on the run and Lewis is really focused on getting ahead of his opponent.
"Vettel, when he runs is someone, is focused as much on the other guy as on where he is heading and inevitably hangs on the other guy, which happens almost all the time.
Lewis Hamilton catches Michael Schumacher in the record book, but Irvine says the Briton "is not even close" to the level of the seven-time Formula 1 champion
"I think Vettel is a good driver, but as a quadruple world champion, I do not see him, I think he's overrated, that he's a one-pony pony and that Lewis has a much wider talent.
"Michael has been there every day, like Senna, but Lewis has his days off," he added. "If you look at the two years that Lewis and (Jenson) Button were together, Button surpbaded it in two years.
"Nobody ever did that to Michael, his performance level was consistently higher.
"Lewis is an incredibly talented driver, and when he arrived in Formula 1, he was fantastic to watch and his pbading was second to none, he is probably a better racer than Michael, but his pace and consistency throughout the weekend. year, I do not think anyone touches Michael, not even Senna. "
Senna was an imperfect pilot
Senna and Schumacher often spent German beginnings in 1991 at the fatal accident of Senna at Imola in 1994.
"I think Michael was probably the best of all time, I think Senna's technique was flawed, he was that incredibly talented driver and had an amazing feel, but he had some techniques that were not correct and he did not examine everything.
"I remember that at the Japanese Grand Prix, Michael was the fastest and I was second, at my first grand prix in the pit lane." Senna was only fourth on fifth.
"Michael practiced the pit lane and Senna did not do it, so he missed things, I'm a big fan of him, but I think Michael would have, well, Michael l & # 39; Beat when they were racing.
"On a lap, Senna was an amazing rider, but I think his technique was slightly flawed, and I could not have blamed Michael.
Irvine and Schumacher have been teammates at Ferrari for four seasons. The Northern Irish only has the opportunity to step out of the German 's shadow after he broke his leg at Silverstone in 1999.
"Technically, he was not so good but his current talent with his feet, arms, feel and anticipation was second to none.
"There were corners where I could not do what he did." Then he simply copied me to the corners, I was faster than him.
"I remember Silverstone, I was a lot faster in the last corner and he could not understand what I was doing, he always went through telemetry and understood it, then he copied me." So was the problem for me, he just had an incredible talent that you can not copy. "
Formula 1 is boring
It is obvious that Irvine is still concerned about this sport, but not in its current form and it aspires to find the roots of Formula 1.
"I do not look at him anymore because it annoys me," he admitted. "I watch the cars go around the circuit and I think it's incredibly boring because it's so flat.
"It's rather synthetic and it's not raw. It's too perfect and when we make a mistake, we do not pay the price. I think the least you should do if you make a mistake is to waste a lot of time.
"In the 1950s, if you make a mistake, you are killed, you can be killed in the 60s, you hurt most of the time and the 80s, you hurt yourself from time to time.
"It is more and more secure, which is a good thing, but it has gone too far.These are just progress, progress, until I get it. we wonder "what is it over here?" "And I think we ended up with little pasty and not interesting."
The new owner "does not take risks"
Irvine says that Formula 1 lacks the enthusiasm of the late 1990s and ended up being "a little doughy and not so interesting"
"I think manufacturers should not be allowed in Formula 1. I think they should be allowed to enter as engine suppliers and that's all," added Irvine.
"When the manufacturers come in, they spend a lot of money and they succeed or they do it well, they pull out because they have nothing to prove anymore" S & # 39; they are doing really badly, they are withdrawing because they are embarrbaded.
"Ferrari has a lot of power and consumes a lot of energy from the surrounding teams, and I think Mercedes has too much money, which poses the same problem.
"It's a diabolical necessity, it was a good thing for me because they paid us a lot more because of the pure financial makeup of the manufacturers, but I think it diminishes the sport a bit."
"It's a pretty thorough question, and I think it probably has to be reduced in financial terms before it can be rebuilt and restored as it was, more gladiatorial and raw.
"There are a lot of things that have to change, and every thing you change will have a ripple effect.But the new owner has paid a lot of money for that, so I do not think that. they will take the risk of doing it there. "
Source link
