The Times Sport - UK (2020-08-15)

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16 2GS Saturday August 15 2020 | the times

firmed that Vettel had been written out

of their plans for 2021, with his place

being given to Carlos Sainz, the Span-

iard who is at present with McLaren.

Relations have been strained since, and

while both sides have tried to gloss over

their differences, the cracks have been

all too apparent. At last weekend’s 70th

Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone,

Vettel said that the team had “messed

up” their tyre strategy. He may have

had a point, but a more blatant mess-up

was his first-corner spin, the rudimen-

tary error that was the most significant

factor in his lowly 12th-place finish.

Before this weekend’s Spanish Grand

Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya near

Barcelona there have been strong

rumours that Ferrari could be prepared

to ditch Vettel before the end of this

season. Paddock rumours suggest that

Vettel is headed for a seat with the

Racing Point team next season. If

the Silverstone-based outfit want to

muscle their way in among the big

beasts of F1 then Vettel unquestionably

brings the kind of profile and reputa-

tion demanded of drivers at that level.

“I know what I’m capable of,” Vettel

said. “I know the job I can do. It’s not

been the cleanest run [this season] but if

things calm down and I get a decent

chance then I’ll use it.”

Chances do not come easily or often

in modern F1. Some might say that

Vettel has had his already.

Kyren Wilson won one of the most
bizarre but tense frames in snooker
history and Ronnie O’Sullivan
conjured a timely reminder of his errat-
ic brilliance as both World Champion-
ship semi-finals were settled by final-
frame thrillers for the first time at the
Crucible.
Wilson fluked the green off three
cushions to seal a 17-16 victory over
Anthony McGill in an outrageous final
frame that featured 186 points, while
O’Sullivan looked on the cusp of defeat
to Mark Selby only to hit back with
three straight frames to reach the final
for the seventh time.
Wilson struggled to contain his emo-
tions at the end of what he described as
a “mental” match, and added: “I can’t
believe it ended like that — I didn’t want
to send someone home on a fluke.”

white back into the middle pocket, with

another subsequent in-off handing his

opponent back the initiative. The red

then perched tight on a middle pocket,

with both players trying and failing to

pot it via the bottom cushion.

McGill managed it at the second

attempt but with the colours at his

Formula One drivers have an honoura-
ble tradition of quitting while they are
ahead. Jackie Stewart won his third
drivers’ championship in 1973 and
never raced again. Alain Prost walked
away after winning his fourth in 1993.
Nigel Mansell lifted the 1992 title, took
his leave of F1 at the end of the season,
and surely regretted his brief and ill-
fated attempted return a couple of
years later.
Those who hang up their helmets
and gloves leave with their legacies
intact. Those who stick around risk
undermining their achievements with
desperate and ever more futile
attempts to relive their glory days.
There have been a few of those down
the years, but none, surely, has driven
his reputation off a cliff with quite the
same perverse determination that
Sebastian Vettel has shown in recent
times.
It is becoming increasingly difficult
to remember just how dominant a
figure Vettel was in his sport a few years
ago. The German was hailed as the nat-
ural successor to Michael Schumacher
when he broke into F1 —
after a stellar career in
other racing formulae —
in 2008, his first full
season in motor racing’s
premier league. Two
years later, he lived up to
his billing as he lifted the
drivers’ championship for
the first time.
The following year,
2011, he was untouchable,
with 11 wins, 15 poles, and
17 podiums in 19 races. He
was champion again in
2012, and then won his
fourth title in 2013 with 13 victories
against his name.
And if he had decided to walk away
with his four world titles at the end of
2014 then he would have done so with
his reputation well gilded and his place
in the F1 pantheon secure. At that point,
only Michael Schumacher and Juan
Manuel Fangio had won the drivers’
championship more often. Not a bad
pair to be rubbing shoulders with.
In fairness, he was only 26 at that
point, so he was not exactly staring into
the abyss of declining powers. He also
had a lucrative Ferrari contract on the
table. Yet in the years since, Vettel has
lived in the shadow of Lewis Hamilton,

his Mercedes rival, and lately he has

been living in the shadow of Charles

Leclerc, his Ferrari team-mate. After

five races of a Covid-reduced season,

Vettel is 13th in the drivers’ standings.

Worse still, he has become some-

thing close to a figure of fun in F1 circles

after the miscellaneous misfortunes he

has suffered in recent times. A driver

once renowned for rigorous efficiency

has become the Captain Calamity of

the grid. He has spun more often than

an Olympic figure skater and those off-

track excursions have come to define

the Vettel of today as much as his titles

defined the Vettel of seven years ago.

Three months ago, Ferrari con-

Vettel swaps boards after finishing behind Hamilton in Canada last year.

Left, his Ferrari goes into a spin last weekend, when he finished 12th

Race 6 Spain, Catalunya

Turns 16

Laps 66

Circuit length 4.655km

Race distance 307.104km

Lap record 1min 18.441sec

D Ricciardo in 2018 for Red Bull

Last week’s winner

M Verstappen for Red Bull

Tomorrow

TV Live on Sky Sports F1 at 1.10pm,

race starts at 2.10pm

Highlights Channel 4, 6.30pm

DRS zone

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10

Drivers Team Points

Constructors

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Spain (Catalunya); August 16, Belgium

(Spa-Francorchamps); August 30, Italy (Monza);

September 6, Tuscany (Mugello); September 13,

Russia (Sochi); September 27, Germany Eifel

(Nurburgring); October 11, Portugal (Algarve);

October 25, Italy (Imola); November 1

Points

L Hamilton Mercedes 107

M Verstappen Red Bull 77

V Bottas Mercedes 73

C Leclerc Ferrari 45

L Norris McLaren 38

A Albon Red Bull 36

L Stroll Racing Point 28

S Pérez Racing Point 22

D Ricciardo Renault 20

E Ocon Renault 16

Mercedes 180

Red Bull 113

Ferrari 55

McLaren 53

Racing Point 41

Renault 36

AlphaTauri 14

Alfa Romeo 2

Vettel’s proud career in a tailspin

Formula One
Alasdair Reid

DAN ISTITENE/GETTY IMAGES

Toto Wolff, the

Mercedes team

principal, has

hinted he may

have a less hands-

on role in the

team’s affairs beyond

the end of this season.

In his seven years in

charge, Mercedes have

won the constructors’

championship six times,

with Lewis Hamilton

claiming five drivers’

titles. Hamilton has

previously said that his

future with the team

could depend on what

Wolff, 48, decides to do.

Wolff’s wife, Susie,

runs a Formula E team

and he said his future

could be shaped by

how that develops.

Mercedes dominated

free practice for

tomorrow’s grand prix,

with Hamilton setting

the fastest time in the

second session.

Hamilton future in doubt if Wolff grip loosens

V L T M p h h o

t ’

H

O’Sullivan and Wilson triumph in epic semi-finals

Wilson, 28, edged home in an

astonishing finale that included McGill

missing while trying to get out of a

snooker eight times in succession and

was effectively concluded when Wilson

fluked the green. The frame score

finished 103-83 in favour of Wilson.

Wilson had returned for their final

session with a 13-11 advantage but later

trailed 16-15 before forcing the decider

after a re-rack, but neither player could

have foreseen the drama that was about

to unfold.

Both players missed simple chances

to claim the frame and match, with

McGill running aground on 39 then

Wilson missing a simple red to a middle

pocket on 47. With the black teetering

over the top pocket, Wilson snookered

McGill on a nearby red and the

29-year-old missed it eight times in

a row — leaving him requiring snook-

ers.

However, Wilson then screwed the

Snooker

Lewis is loving

‘funky bounces’

Stacy Lewis said that she loved the

“funky bounces” of links golf after

birdies in each of the final four holes

gave her a share of the lead at the half-

way stage of the Ladies Scottish Open.

The 35-year-old American posted a

superb five-under-par round of 66 to

share a two-shot lead with Spain’s

Azahara Muñoz at the Renaissance

Club in North Berwick.

Lewis, a former world No 1, is return-

ing to form after giving birth to a

daughter two years ago.

The winner of the Women’s Open at

St Andrews in 2013 is clearly at home on

the links. “The different shots, the

weather, the funky bounces and

visualising how to execute — I’m just

excited,” she said.

Golf

Cathy Harris

Wilson could not hide his emotions

after fluking the green in the last frame

mercy he snookered himself on the

green. Wilson effectively settled the

match with his outrageous fortune on

the green, leaving McGill requiring

snookers again.

O’Sullivan’s victory over three-time

champion Mark Selby was no less

dramatic in the evening session.

O’Sullivan, 44, trailed 13-11 and looked

to be heading out when he lashed wildly

at a final pink, enabling Selby to move

within one frame of victory at 16-14.

But O’Sullivan responded in extraor-

dinary fashion, hitting a 138 total

clearance followed by an equally quick-

fire 71 to conjure another Crucible

decider.

O’Sullivan made the better start but

broke down on 64 within two balls of

effective victory, but Selby’s response

also floundered. After an extensive

period of safety play, including a series

of improbable snookers, O’Sullivan got

the final red and cleared to win.