Four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel has offered a detailed reflection on why Ferrari never managed to secure a championship during his six seasons with the Scuderia. Despite moments of genuine promise, he now believes that the combination of Lewis Hamilton and the dominant Mercedes team ultimately exposed Ferrari’s structural weaknesses and long-term development limitations.
Sebastian Vettel raced for Ferrari from 2015 to 2020, making 118 Grand Prix starts in red – placing him among the most experienced drivers in the team’s illustrious history. His tally of 14 victories remains one of the highest for Ferrari, with only Michael Schumacher and Niki Lauda having achieved more wins for the Italian outfit. Expectations were immense from the moment he arrived, but the championship challenge never materialised as hoped.
How Sebastian Vettel’s title bids began to fall apart
The 2017 campaign was the closest the partnership ever came to reaching the summit. After the Italian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel was just three points behind Lewis Hamilton in the standings. But as the season progressed, the performance gap widened dramatically, and by the Abu Dhabi finale the Briton had stretched his lead to 46 points.
The story unfolded in a similar fashion in 2018. At the same stage of the championship, the German was still within striking distance of Lewis Hamilton, trailing by only 17 points. By the end of the season, however, Hamilton had pulled 88 points clear. In Sebastian Vettel’s eyes, the pattern was becoming impossible to ignore: Ferrari simply could not maintain the relentless development pace required to fight Mercedes over a full season.
Why 2019 was the turning point for Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel has admitted that the realisation hit him most clearly during the 2019 campaign. While he acknowledged making mistakes at key moments, he insisted that Ferrari’s lack of sustained performance gains was the decisive factor. The Scuderia were strong on the straights thanks to a powerful engine, but their rivals found far more aerodynamic performance and consistency.
Mercedes ultimately won 15 races that year, while Ferrari managed only three. Sebastian Vettel’s new teammate, Charles Leclerc, approached the season with enthusiasm as he experienced his first taste of fighting at the front. But for the German, who had already won four world championships with Red Bull, finishing third, fourth, fifth or sixth was no longer satisfying. He said he gradually understood that Ferrari were not developing quickly enough to truly challenge Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes for a world title.
It was during that year that Sebastian Vettel admitted privately to himself that Ferrari were “not good enough” to fulfil his dream of winning a championship in red. His motivation began to suffer as the gap to Mercedes stabilised and then increased during the second half of the season.
Why Sebastian Vettel’s advice offers little help for Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari
As Ferrari continues its long search for a return to championship glory, Lewis Hamilton has become the next superstar tasked with ending the drought. Unlike Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, both of whom won races in their first year with the Scuderia, Lewis Hamilton has not yet stepped on the podium during his debut season at Maranello.
Before Lewis Hamilton made the switch, Sebastian Vettel had advised him to learn Italian in order to better integrate with the team. The German explained that understanding the language helped his own working relationships, although he wished he had spent even more time in Italy to fully absorb the culture.
However, Lewis Hamilton faces a much more challenging situation. With the seven-time world champion turning 41 this winter and the Formula 1 calendar expanding to 24 races, it will be extremely difficult for him to reach a meaningful level of fluency in the short period he is likely to spend with Ferrari. That means Sebastian Vettel’s advice, while valuable in principle, may simply not be practical for Hamilton’s circumstances.
Both Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso came agonisingly close but ultimately failed to return Ferrari to championship-winning glory. Whether Lewis Hamilton can break that cycle remains one of the biggest unanswered questions of Ferrari’s modern Formula 1 era.
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