The case is quite clear in my opinion: From Silverstone onward the Red Bull was the class of the field at least during six days, and clearly the car to beat. Of course he won three of those, fine, but then again Button had a 100 % rate in the beginning of the season when he had the car to beat. Alonso had a similar streak in 2006, where he had to fight of Michael Schumacher as well. What happened to Vettel?
1, Melbourne: Couldn't resist wheelbanging with Kubica, when he should just have let him past. Game over.
2, Sepang: Spun in the wet without featuring, so much for rainmaster.
3, Shanghai: Well, OK, rainmaster on his day.
4, Sakhir: Could have beaten Button there, but fended off Trulli well.
5, Barcelona: Victim of Massa's KERS system, still did well.
6, Monaco: Off the pace all weekend, then ended it in Ste Devote wall, not very well done.
7, Istanbul: Went off during the first lap, then failed to beat team mate.
8, Silverstone: Schumi-esque dominant victory.
9, NĂ¼rburgring: Beaten soundly by Mark Webber (!), just fended of Massa's slower Ferrari.
10, Hungaroring: Qualified badly, then hit Kimi in T1. Game over.
11, Valencia: Bad start, then way too slow before engine failure. Not the fastest car there, but still not fast enough.
12, Spa: Bad mistake in final Q3 run, something that no top driver can afford. Should have won easily.
13, Monza: Beaten by Alonso's inferior Renault with the same engine.
14, Singapore: Had equal car to Lewis, but couldn't settle for second and sped in pitlane. Another individual mistake.
15, Suzuka: Did what he should, and did it very well. Compliments.
16, Interlagos: Rain master?

17, Abu Dhabi: Same as Suzuka, when Hamilton got into trouble, he took the opportunity.
That makes for some interesting reading. I can't see that he did anything exceptional this season, it just seemed a wasted opportunity to my mind. It's difficult to assess how good Webber actually is, with regards to he facing no proper top drivers before he encountered Vettel. I rate him just above the midfield drivers, and to my mind that means that Vettel's lack of margin over him suggests that the youngster isn't the superstar people claim him already to be.
I'm not saying that he'll never become a WDC/the best driver, but I'm just saying that he's not there yet. That's why I find him overrated at the moment. Does anyone actually agree with me?
Edited by Victor_RO, 30 December 2009 - 17:40.