Why does Vettel get jeered?

In the opening five years of this century, Michael Schumacher and Ferrari dominated grand prix racing, setting record after record as the scarlet steamroller annihilated their opposition, winning across the globe at will. Such was the hegemony that Schumacher and team-mate Rubens Barrichello could switch positions on the last lap, on the finish line and even on the podium.

Ferrari's domination might have damaged Formula 1's TV ratings - the sport's lifeblood - but not the Prancing Horse itself: the German (and his team) were feted from Melbourne to Monaco, from Montreal to Monza, as millions of Red Riding Hoods unashamedly bought into the Ferrari dream.

The precious red road cars they may not have been able to afford; however, quilted anorak, peak cap or aftershave set were all within budgetary reach. These added up, such items ultimately delivering profits which collectively exceeded the revenues generated by the sale of the mainstream product. Schumacher, too, profited enormously: in 2003 he was the world's largest milliner, selling over 30 million caps...

Twelve years on, F1 is experiencing yet another show of supremacy, again led by a young German with sublime driving skills and joyful podium antics: triple world champion Sebastian Vettel, the serial record-setter who has taken Red Bull Racing to heights shading even those achieved by Ferrari at its most brilliant. Forget Schumacher becoming the sport's youngest double world champion at 26 in 1995: by season's end Vettel will likely have taken a fourth crown at the same age - all consecutively.

Schumacher does his habitual podium leap at Imola in 2004 © LAT

Yet, far from being worshipped as was Schumacher, Vettel finds himself on the receiving end of vitriol unbecoming of a global sport that should know no nationalist barriers.

He was variously booed on the victory step earlier in the season, then again in Ferrari's heartland at Monza. Given this background the jury is out as to whether booing during the awards ceremony at Spa was aimed at Vettel or Greenpeace's disruption of the Shell-sponsored Belgian Grand Prix.

However, Vettel was booed most recently on Sunday in Singapore after dominating the 61-lap night race by building up an unassailable lead that was neutralised by a safety car phase, forcing him to do it all over again.

Still, he won by 32 seconds over Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), having started from pole and topped the times on both Friday and Saturday on an unforgiving track under unrelenting conditions fundamentally the opposite of Spa-Francorchamps and Monza, where he similarly destroyed the Spaniard. As for the rest of the field, they weren't even in the hunt.

Such sporting superiority, be it down to driver, car or a combination of both, should be revered not jeered. It is simply unacceptable, and should be actioned by the sport's authorities ASAP.

True, Schumacher and Barrichello were loudly booed in Austria in 2002, but then Ferrari deserved everything that came its way on the day after cynically massaging the result via a nifty ordered reshuffle. Contrast that with Vettel, who refused to bow to team orders in Malaysia...

Although bewildered by the catcalls and jeers in Singapore, he tried to made light of the abuse, saying: "As long as they keep booing, it means we're doing a good job," before going on to blame an army of well-heeled Ferraristi.

"It's not nice, but I think if you look around at the grandstands most fans are dressed in red," he said before adding: "They're emotional when [they are] not winning, and when someone else is winning they don't like it. I think they are on tour and wealthy enough to go to a lot of races..."

Vettel's victory finger is not the most popular celebratory gesture in F1 history © LAT

Maybe; maybe not. Either way that is utterly irrelevant, and does not answer the burning question: why such stark difference in the podium treatment received by the two German superstars for similarly dominant performances? Is it Vettel's personality, Red Bull's image, a combination of both, simply a sign of changing fan base demographics or F1's latest fad, much like dyed wigs once were? After all, with the duo growing up in the same region, it cannot (nor should it) be anti-Teutonic sentiment.

That said, there is little doubt that the irritating 'Vettel Finger' - index finger denoting a '1' wagged at TV cameras after every pole/win - irritates many and provides his critics with ammunition. But Schumacher, too, had a raft of annoying traits, not least his podium 'yumps' and oft-feigned innocence.

At a personal level Vettel is unfailingly courteous and approachable, a young man living his dream in model fashion. Yes, he has a steely edge, but that is to be expected from a leading practitioner in the world's most ruthless sport, and, yes, he damaged his reputation by duping team-mate Mark Webber during their Malaysian team-order spat, but Vettel's conduct was kiddie stuff compared to some of the odious antics Schumacher regularly pulled out of the bag.

Not even in his wildest dreams would Vettel ever consider parking on the racing line during the closing moments of qualifying as Schumacher was adjudged guilty of doing in Monaco 2006. While Vettel drives uncompromisingly robustly, he has yet to attract any criticism from his peers. Where he has ruffled feathers it's never been at the level of vitriol aimed at Schumacher, who thought nothing of squeezing former team-mate Barrichello into a wall at 300 km/h, nor, for that matter, brother Ralf.

The Monaco qualifying incident in 2006 was an ethical lowpoint for Schumacher © LAT

Not for nothing is a particularly unsporting manoeuvre known as 'Chop Schuey' in F1-speak; one doubts that there will ever be a Vettel equivalent, certainly not for dubious behaviour...

Thus it would seem the boos were not aimed at Vettel personally, but rather at the combination of driver and his Red Bull team, the user-unfriendly operation which exists only to sell sickly-sweet fizzy drinks across the globe at exorbitant prices through monopolising F1's airwaves. Have F1's real fans grown weary of paying (increasingly) heavily for the drinks company to advertise its wares across the world, of being exploited by marketing men masquerading as sportsmen?

Where Ferrari oozes passion out of every pore of its historic factory in Maranello and transfers this to every product bearing the stallion, Red Bull operates out of a clinical facility situated in an industrial estate in Milton Keynes, a bland 'new' city created in the '60s and featuring concrete cow statues to educate local kids about the source of milk...

There is a precedent, ironically one involving Schumacher: Benetton. He won his first two titles with the team owned by the vibey Italian clothing brand, and its success was shortlived. Within three years of Schumacher's successes it had dropped to fifth in the championship and after the same period again it was all over, the Benetton family selling out to Renault.

During his Benetton tenure Schumacher was nowhere near as idolised as at Ferrari despite delivering some of his greatest races for the blue/yellow team, and it is telling that he achieved global fame only as a Ferrari driver, not as F1's youngest-ever double world champion.

There exists another parallel: McLaren with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. Here were the two greatest drivers of their generation paired in the best team whose cars were powered by gold-standard Honda turbo engines. Their 1988 domination of the season's 16 races - McLaren won 15 rounds - statistically exceeds that of Ferrari's best years (2002/4), when the Italian squad won 15 out of the 17/18 rounds respectively, yet not a boo was ever heard. Why? McLaren was obviously viewed as racing in F1 for all the right reasons.

It is therefore fair to deduce that Schumacher was worshipped because of his relationship with Ferrari, while Nice Guy Vettel attracts boos aimed predominantly at his four-wheeled Flying Drinks Can team, one with which passionate fans simply cannot identify. A red car they can drool over, touch, love; ditto a cap; but a Red Bull can? Compounding the 'crime' is Red Bull's cynicism in officially entering its second team as Scuderia Toro Rosso...

Ultimately such boos are exceedingly bad for business, for TV viewers across the world are increasingly becoming aware of the jeers aimed at the winning team. One wonders, therefore, how much longer Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz will tolerate such abuse in return for the £200m his company annually pumps into the sport. A repeat of Benetton?