Why hasn’t Sebastian Vettel been able to become world champion with Ferrari so far? What makes him different from Lewis Hamilton? And what would a retirement mean for Formula One and Germany? ‘Auto Motor and Sport’ F1 reporter Andreas Haupt explains:
Even if many media name Sebastian Vettel’s exit from Ferrari at the end of the year with a failure of the ex-world champion, we must under no circumstances draw hasty conclusions at this point in time. Because it is unfair to shift the blame onto the driver alone. And because the failure is not yet certain. We all hope that the corona virus will allow for another Formula 1 season this year. In theory, Seb could still become world champion with Ferrari. … and still accomplish his mission.
Granted, the chances of that are slim. Because Mercedes and Red Bull were stronger in the winter test sessions. Because Ferrari obviously lack the structures for the big step. Because Ferrari has fallen behind even with the engine. Because Lewis Hamilton is greedy for the seventh title. And because Verstappen and Red Bull want to finally break the Mercedes dominance.
But never underestimate the heart of a champion. In recent years, the pressure on Sebastian Vettel has been mounting. With every championship lost, the weight on his shoulders has increased. This has been taken away from him in 2020 by the decision to withdraw from Ferrari at the end of the season, because now no one expects him to win the world championship.
Scuderia Ferrari has put its chips on Charles Leclerc. In principle, Sebastian Vettel can drive free. The four-time Formula One world champion also does not have to worry about team tactics. Ferrari knows that a four-time world champion cannot be expected to support a 22-year-old team-mate with two wins on the credit side. At least at the beginning of the season, the Maranello team must guarantee equal opportunities. Otherwise you would wound yourself.
Two seasons without a win
Whoever wins is the greatest in our society. When you lose, old successes are quickly forgotten. The more cups you have won in the past, the deeper you can fall in perception. Even one like Michael Jordan was doubted after his return to basketball. Unfortunately, that is the case.
First, the four-time world champion was beaten by Daniel Ricciardo. Red Bull was a Vettel team. But Ricciardo won three races. Vettel didn’t have the pace because he didn’t like the car. His driving style is based on a solid front axle. As Adrian Newey describes it in his book, “Vettel steers very hard and late to get the car through the turn, which requires a very solid rear end.” The Red Bull RB10 didn’t have that any more.
In 2016, his second year with Ferrari, Vettel was still able to win. Lewis Hamilton has won at least one Grand Prix in each of his Formula 1 seasons since 2007. Even those he could not have won in the first place. Like for example in Germany two years ago.
At that time, Vettel went off track in his Ferrari in the Sachskurve in heavy rain. It was the psychological turnaround of the World Championship. Suddenly Hamilton was in the lead.
And in Ferrari, the mistakes crept in: with car development, strategy, in the procedures at the race track. Sebastian Vettel did his part. He made driving errors. In a direct duel, the winner was Hamilton. Vettel’s Ferrari, however, often pointed in the wrong direction.
But that is not to say that the 32-year-old can’t do wheel-to-wheel duels. You have to look at it from the other side: Nobody knows how to position his car in these tight spots like Hamilton. Without dirty tricks.
Only the driver is not enough
I think Hamilton, Schumacher and even a Fernando Alonso are a little ahead of Vettel. Not only do they win with the fastest car, but they win in a car that’s inferior. Schumacher’s Ferrari F310 was more of a cucumber in 1996. Nevertheless, Schumi took three Grand Prix wins on it. Alonso almost became world champion in 2010 and 2012 in an inferior Ferrari. Vettel only won once in a race car that was not capable of winning: in the 2008 Toro Rosso at Monza.
In other words, Vettel needs a car that is tailored to his driving style. The others are more likely to avoid problems. Not always, but to a certain extent.
Vettel has not won his four titles solely because of Red Bull. To say that would be wrong. Vettel made his mistakes even in those years. But he did not make them twice. He learned and improved. Vettel put the team behind him. He made his bounce, especially in the second half of the season. He grew with the pressure, instead of bowing to it. That’s what makes great drivers. It shows strong nerves. One that he didn’t always have on over the years with Ferrari. Why?
And now comes the most important aspect of the matter: Red Bull was the best organisation in Formula 1 between 2010 and 2013, Mercedes has been since 2014, from A to Z. From the team boss to the cleaning lady. In this team, every employee operates at the maximum. Mistakes are accepted and remedied. They do not repeat themselves. Quite different from Ferrari.
Seabstian Vettel always loyal
Hamilton enjoys this perfect environment. He trusts the team. The team trusts him. Vettel never had that kind of maximum backing with Scuderia Ferrari. Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff is a people catcher. One who, together with Niki Lauda, has put the pieces of the puzzle in the right places. One who takes pressure off the team. One who gives his engineers and drivers the freedom to develop.
At Mercedes they analyze the defeats. The team becomes stronger. At Ferrari the opposite is true. Defeats are state dramas. Instead of pulling together, the team is denounced. No driver can become world champion in this environment. No Alonso, no Vettel. And no Hamilton either. If Vettel were in a Mercedes and Hamilton in a Ferrari, the duels of recent years would have been the other way round. A driver needs that perfect environment. Otherwise he threatens to run his car over to make up for any deficits. Then mistakes happen.
In this context, Seabstian Vettel’s loyalty and behaviour towards Ferrari must be rated even higher. He has never publicly criticized his team. He acted as Michael Schumacher once did. Criticism is made behind closed doors. Quite unlike Alonso between 2010 and 2014, the Spaniard hinted between the lines that the driver would do heroic deeds and that the car was more or less crap. Vettel can lead a team. Alonso, many in the paddock say, cannot.
What does the end for Vettel at Ferrari mean for Formula One? First of all, that the premier class of motor sport will probably soon have to do without one of its biggest draught horses. That one of the most successful and best drivers in history – and that is undoubtedly Seabstian Vettel, with four World Championship titles, 53 GP victories and 57 pole positions – will be missing from the big stage. Vettel is the counterpart to superstar Hamilton. One of them wears gold necklaces, earrings, tattoos. He races around the world. Has his own fashion design line. Spends part of his life on social networking sites. The other one is more of a polo shirt type. Family man with three kids. One who restores old motorcycles and cars. Someone who drives Fiat 500 and not Pagani.
Probably no place in 2021
For all their differences, Vettel and Hamilton are similar. They respect each other in the highest degree. They both stand up for their values. Vettel locks himself off from social networks because he doesn’t see the point. He’s a man of cash, not credit cards and PayPal. One who loves 12-cylinder naturally aspirated engines, not the current 1.6-liter V6 hybrid monsters.
Vettel has never let himself be bent. But that’s not to say the German can’t adapt. Only recently he bought a simulator for his home because he saw what his young colleagues were up to. That’s exactly the kind of guy, guys like Vettel, Formula 1 needs. Vettel is infatuated with technical details. He’s obsessed with detail. He’s a winner. He’s a guy who can’t stand injustice. See Montreal 2019. Vettel shows emotions, positive or negative. That’s what sport thrives on, especially in times when spokespeople are at the side of the drivers like bodyguards.
Unfortunately, there is probably no more place for him in 2021. At Red Bull and Mercedes the doors are closed. They have their star drivers, around whom the team is built. McLaren and Renault would be a step backwards. They won’t be racing to win in 2021. The crisis makes the big ones stronger, not the small ones. And Vettel is not one to race for small points. He wants to win.
Has Vettel run away from Leclerc? No. It’s just what happens in sport. An up-and-coming youngster impresses a stuck team. Leclerc fought with his elbows out instead of bowing to the four-time world champion. He protested loudly over the team radio. With his manner he won the respect of the mechanics and engineers. Ferrari senses: A future world champion is growing up here. Manager Nicholas Todt is doing politics for him in the background. Leclerc swam with the current in 2019, Vettel against it.
What does the failed contract extension mean for Ferrari? That the most successful racing team in Formula 1 history will soon be led by a young star. From 2021, Ferrari will break away from the experience that Vettel brought to the team. This could be lacking, especially in vehicle development. Vettel is one who points out mechanical deficits, who not only senses them in the car, but can also name them.
Wave movements in Germany
It is easy to forget that success hangs on both sides. In 2017, Vettel led the World Championship by 14 points at half time. But Ferrari did not make Kimi Raikkonen number two. Good for the good of the sport, bad for Seb. In Singapore, he clashed with Kimi Raikkonen at the start. In Malaysia and Japan, he was left behind by technology.
Vettel is without a doubt still one of the top five drivers in the current field. A driver like that belongs in Formula 1, belongs in a top car. But Germany threatens to have neither a Grand Prix nor a driver in Formula 1 from 2021. That’s bad for us, but wouldn’t be a downfall at first.
In 2010 Germany still had seven Formula 1 drivers. That was an exception. Just as it would be an exception in 2021. These are probably wave movements that a motor sports-mad nation has to endure. Only the future will show whether it is more, perhaps a fundamental problem.
There is a general problem everywhere in the young generation: motorsport is too expensive. Those who want to get from karting to the very top have to raise seven-digit sums. This requires rich parents and/or sponsors. And they will probably become less because of the corona crisis. Then only the manufacturers will be left. Whoever doesn’t make it into their squad will have lost.
Those responsible should have taken countermeasures a long time ago. Perhaps Vettel’s withdrawal, if it actually comes to that, would be a final wake-up call to go to the structures and reopen motorsport in the junior classes. So that he is no longer accessible only to an elite. So that talented young drivers, whose parents are not blessed with millions, can make it from the bottom to the top. But as I said: This problem is not only known in Germany, but also in other nations.
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