Stirling Moss: “Vettel is a modern Fangio”

Stirling Moss confided that Sebastian Vettel reminded him of Juan Manuel Fangio, whom he was alongside in 1955 with the Mercedes team and then at Maserati for a race in 1957. Moss was full of praise for Vettel, whom he sees as an extraordinary driver.

Vettel is a modern Fangio, truly, in Formula 1. I can’t understand, other than his natural ability, how he is so good, how he can be so good. I think Vettel is truly exceptional, but he has had the best car, which is deserved because generally the best driver has the best car, said Stirling Moss quoted by Reuters.

Fangio made his F1 debut during the official start of the World Championship in 1950 and quickly left his mark on the sport by winning his first title in 1951. Over nine years of his career, he won five World Champion titles—a record that stood for a long time and was only broken in 2003 by Michael Schumacher.

And like Fangio, Vettel arrived in Formula 1 and immediately knew how to make his mark – after a victory with Toro Rosso in 2008, he joined Red Bull Racing and secured a runner-up position in 2009, then won the title in 2010 and 2011. He seems well-positioned to fight to retain his crown this season. What also impresses Stirling Moss about the young German are his communication skills.

Fangio arrived and took what he wanted and the others took what was left. Where we are lucky is that Vettel has a great sense of humor. He is an incredibly good world champion. I think of many people who, in the same position, wouldn’t give back as much as they received, but he does.

Moss also commented on the performance of the McLaren team and the performance of the cars from Woking. He finds them good but not yet at the level of the Red Bulls designed by Adrian Newey.

Their problem is that they are facing a better team. The Red Bull is so good, it’s very difficult to match it, and I don’t think they’ve managed to do so.

The four-time world runner-up but never champion also stated that he would bet more on Button than on Hamilton for this new season. He sees the 2009 world champion as a more experienced and skillful driver even though he acknowledges that Lewis Hamilton has incredible speed.

Lewis does amusing things, so we can’t be sure about him. I’d put my money on Jenson. Yes, I would. Lewis is incredible, he’s extremely fast, but Jenson thinks better about certain things than Lewis. Like when it rains and whether to change tires or not. For things like that, he has a better understanding and experience counts for a lot.

Stirling Moss also commented on the current designs of Formula 1 cars, particularly the F2012. He finds the Italian car hideous.

« Can you think of an ugly single-seater that ever won something? They say if it looks good, it probably is. That’s what worries me about Ferrari because it’s not very pretty, but maybe it’s particularly effective, » added Stirling Moss.