Vettel told to 'Raise Game'

Sebastian Vettel was told to "raise his game" by his Red Bull team after a troubled start to the season.

Helmut Marko, Red Bull's motorsport adviser, told the four-time champion after April's Chinese Grand Prix to adapt his driving and stop complaining about the car and new rules.

"I told him: 'There are 50 engineers working on this engine and they can't sort it out," said Marko. "'You're a top driver, it's up to you. You have to do it.'"

The 71-year-old Austrian, a former racing driver, added: "If he can't sort out the car, the easiest thing is the driver. He has to raise his game."
In a wide-ranging interview before the return of the Austrian Grand Prix next weekend on Red Bull's own circuit, Marko also revealed that Red Bull had considered signing Lewis Hamilton for the 2013 season.

They decided against it because they felt the 2008 champion would clash with Vettel because they both have big egos. "We were considering it, but we thought it wouldn't work," said Marko. "To be successful, you need a certain amount of harmony."

Marko said Vettel was also unhappy with the new turbo hybrid engine rules and the effect that these, along with changes to the aerodynamic rules, were having on the team's ability to make the car behave in exactly the way he wanted.

"Sebastian was complaining about having such a bad car," said Marko. "Sebastian wants everything absolutely right. "His main problem was the downshift was always destabilising the rear and he couldn't understand that we couldn't solve it.

"Furthermore, he thinks the way F1 is going is not the right one - the cars should be monsters, not relatively easy to drive.

Marko said that Vettel, along with the rest of the team, had not expected Ricciardo to be so strong this year, especially after the team's troubled pre-season testing programme.

Marko said Vettel was "a little bit surprised, like we all were, with Ricciardo" following his switch from Toro Rosso. "Don't forget we didn't test. We had some outings - one lap or two laps if it was a good day - but no-one could see his potential."

A few comments;
1) We can see here that Vettel is struggling and the whole chassis thing was a bit of a nonsense really
2) We have heard 'experts' claim he is supremely intelligent and has superb feel for the car but is struggling with a downshift and the way it destabilises the car. Surely the all so mighty superman can drive around this problem
3) A bit of inconsistency in Marko's comments he says Vettel wants the cars to be monsters and not relatively easy to drive but he is struggling to drive this supposedly easier to drive cars
4) They had considered signing Hamilton but were worried about the clash of egos. Considering Hamilton has got on with all his team mates since Alonso, we can infer that they were worried about Hamilton beating Vettel
5) Ricciardo needs to be praised to the highest heavens, new team, new rules, new car, less testing time but stll outperforming a '4 time world champion.'

So gents, what do you make of Marko's comments?