Vettel’s dominance shocking, says Schumacher

BERLIN. Michael Schumacher says he is shocked by the margin of superiority that Sebastian Vettel had over Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber in the 2013 Formula 1 season.

Saturday, November 30, 2013

BERLIN. Michael Schumacher says he is shocked by the margin of superiority that Sebastian Vettel had over Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber in the 2013 Formula 1 season.Vettel took 13 grand prix victories from the 19-round F1 season, while his team-mate did not win at all. Webber ultimately finished 198 points behind Vettel.Asked during a season review interview for Mercedes how he rated Vettel’s 2013 campaign, Schumacher replied: "He did a great job, very consistent."Look at his team-mate. That’s your reference point that you’ve got to take. He won all those races - 13 this year. Mark Webber won none in the end."That’s pretty shocking. "I’m glad I’m not his team-mate...”Vettel’s career results so far (see table below) suggest he has the potential to eclipse Schumacher’s record of seven world championships and 91 GP wins.The elder German, a long-time friend of Vettel’s, said he would be pleased to see his countryman beat his tallies."If somebody can break all these records, then I’d prefer him to be that somebody,” said Schumacher"I did what I did in my time. He’s doing it in his time. I’m just glad it is him.”SCHUMACHER VS VETTELVettel has now started 120 grands prix. Here’s how his record up to now compares with Schumacher’s tally after his first 120 F1 races (Belgium 1991-Brazil ‘99).SCHUMACHER’S TEAM-MATESDespite Schumacher’s surprise at how Webber struggled relative to Vettel, Schumacher himself was no stranger to crushing superiority over team-mates during his championship seasons in his original F1 career.When he won his first title in 1994, his tally of 92 points and eight wins far outweighed the combined efforts of his revolving cast of team-mates. Between them the injured JJ Lehto, his rookie replacement Jos Verstappen and late-season call-up Johnny Herbert managed 11 points and no wins.Herbert did grab two slightly fortunate victories in a full season alongside Schumacher in 1995, but the German won nine times and took more than twice as many points.Rubens Barrichello often put up a game fight against Schumacher during Ferrari’s 2000-04 dominance, though team orders had a say too.Ultimately during Schumacher’s five Ferrari title-winning seasons the intra-team win tally in his favour over Barrichello was 9-1, 9-0, 11-4, 6-2 and 13-2 from 2000-04.