Whether you are personally a fan or not, there’s no denying that Sebastian Vettel has made a string of mistakes this season, contributing to a rather predictable Mercedes dominance that is, at times, difficult to watch. Vettel’s most recent error saw him crash into the rear-end of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and finish well behind teammate Charles Leclerc in the British Grand Prix.
With so many errors and not so many impressive finishes as of late, talk is mounting that Vettel may have lost his way, and that he may be losing his reactions and abilities in this twilight stage of his career.
Crash With Verstappen
The British Grand Prix was an eventful one, but unfortunately for Ferrari the spotlight has not been positive. As anyone who watched the race will know, Vettel was involved in a pretty avoidable and arguably outrageous crash with Verstappen.
Verstappen got the better of Vettel between turns 15 and 17, but Vettel attempted to overtake to “sneak back” past Verstappen on the inside. It was a misjudged move, and Seb couldn’t brake in time, clipping the back end of the Red Bull vehicle and sending it spinning out of control.
Verstappen eventually recovered to finish 5th, whilst Vettel was forced to make an extra stop to replace the nose of his Ferrari. He slipped to 16th and suffered a 10 second penalty and two points on his license.
Vettel apologised to Verstappen immediately after the race, and has since said that the apology is more meaningful than the penalty.
Slips 100 Points Behind Hamilton
The crash gave Hamilton an assured victory, as he raced well and made the most of the safety car. He finished first ahead of teammate Bottas, and extended his lead in the F1 Driver’s Championship. Vettel now sits 100 points behind Hamilton with 11 of 21 races left.
It’s a predictable outcome already this season, with race fans and bookies placing Mercedes as firm favourites, and upcoming sports betting apps like Fox Bet likely to do the same.
The recent crash at Silverstone is just one of a series of blunders this year, most notably in Bahrain and then in Canada, where Vettel argued with stewards about his decision to rejoin the track. This, combined with a lack of significant points building finishes, has led critics to, well, criticize.
As Vettel reaches the tail end of his career, experts and pundits have questioned whether he can continue to make an impact at Ferrari, and even whether he may decide to take an early retirement.
Vettel Comes Under Fire
Martin Brundle from Sky Sports has commented that Vettel has “lost vision, reactions and judgements” when under pressure from wheel to wheel action. It’s true that the crash simply didn’t need to happen. It was a bad decision and reaction by Vettel, and perhaps not one that we would have seen earlier in his career. Brundle also points out that, meanwhile, Ferrari teammate Leclerc is gaining speed and confidence.
F1 managing director Ross Brawn says that Sebastian is under a “different kind of pressure” than what he is used to. He thinks that Vettel will have no choice but to question the direction of his career.
Surprisingly, it was rival Lewis Hamilton who came out in support for Vettel, saying, “He will recover. He will redeem himself…”
There’s no doubt that Vettel is still a world class driver. He has won four championships with Red Bull, had over 50 race victories, over 115 podium finishes and is considered by many to be one of the greatest drivers of all time.
However, this season he has been showing signs of slowing down. He has not managed a top five finish in the last three races, and is now regularly finishing behind Leclerc, who is now catching up in the championships. Vettel is currently contracted with Ferrari until the end of 2020, so it’s unlikely he will retire early, but it’s also difficult to see how he will help Ferrari to overcome Mercedes’ dominance.
There should be no disrespect to accomplished drivers who have peaked already. Vettel is a Ferrari F1 legend and an excellent competitor. But do the critics have a point, and will Vettel be able to pull it back to become a top contender again?
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