Sebastian Vettel is a four-time Formula 1 World Champion. In all the noise and criticism that has been flying around the German driver it seems necessary to state this otherwise obvious fact. It needs mentioning because many a pundit, and several so-called pundits, has begun to question his prowess as a racing driver. They aren’t wrong in their criticism of his mistakes but they are wrong in their doubt of his ability and commitment.
On numerous, if not two thousand, occasions some have stirred speculation that he may walk away from the sport. He did seem fairly disillusioned with the whole shebang after what happened in Canada but has confirmed, directly, that he has no intention of hanging up his helmet. In fact, he is contracted with Ferrari until the end of 2020. But that’s not provocative enough so ‘they’ continue to speculate about it week in and week out.
The other favourite one-liner is ‘Well, you don’t see Hamilton making these mistakes’. It is quite silly to compare Sebastian Vettel to Lewis Hamilton. If you were making a direct driver-to-driver comparison, then have it at it. But F1 is never only about the individual and through that lens their situations could not be more different. Hamilton shows up to a grand prix weekend fully convinced that he will walk onto the top stop of the podium come Sunday afternoon. Yes, there are dozens of factors that can conspire to prevent this scenario but with all being equal he likely stands a more than 90% chance of winning. He is also in the most clinically efficient teams on the grid. Mercedes operate at a level that demands victory and anything else in inconceivable and unacceptable. More importantly they know how to win and how to solve their issues, almost immediately, if they don’t. In reality, his life is an awful lot easier than Vettel’s right now.
Now Ferrari. Let’s not kid ourselves the Ferrari of 2019, heck of the last decade and a half, is not the Ferrari of the Schumacher-era. It doesn’t operate as proficiently as it should. That is evident, for example, in the repeated failure of upgrades brought to the car and in the calamity of their decision-making. This pressure isn’t only resting on the shoulders of those in the factory or even just top management. It filters through the entire organization and directly into the cockpit of Sebastian Vettel. Because he is fully aware that he is in car that has a deficit to Mercedes he pushes hard, sometimes over the limit. While Hamilton pushes his car to the edge Vettel needs to push beyond that edge to get on par with Mercedes and then the mistakes happen. Does this mean he isn’t a good driver? That he should retire from the sport? The answer is a resounding no.
It doesn’t get any easier for Vettel as he returns this weekend to the German grand prix at the Hockenheimring. It is here, in 2018, where he crashed out while leading and handed Hamilton a handy 25-points. It seems as good a place as any then to start turning around his fortunes.
Long straits dominate the first sector of the Hockenheimring making sector 1 fairly power dominant. The first overtaking opportunities of the lap comes at the turn 4 hairpin before the track evolves in a series of medium to fast corners that will test the aero efficiency of the car. The second half of the circuit layout of the circuit doesn’t inherently favour the strengths of the Ferrari but they have an opportunity to pull something together in Germany. It wont be easy to stop the might of Mercedes or to contend with the canny Red Bulls but Ferrari and Vettel must begin to find their way out of the messy position they find themselves in.
