GP RACING MARCH 2020 61
unsmiling,disa ppointedby Ferra ris invariablynot quiteon the pace
of Mercedes,and perha ps dismayed by theerrors ofjudgement which
havecrept into his driving, as at Monzalast year, or Silverstone where he
clatteredinto Max Verstappen.
“Seb’s Achilles Heel,” saysDavid Coulthard, “isthat he’s still gotthat
‘throwingtoys out of the pram’ behaviour. He defi nitely has aproblem with
that – and Baku in 2017,when he nudgedinto Hamiltonduringthe Safety
Car period,was a case in point.
“Pushed to his raw racing instincts, Vettelis emotional and reactive. You
could say that those characteristics are what has madehim great, but equally
they’vebeen a weaknessthroughout his career – remember his reaction after
the coming-togetherwith Webber inTurke y? He blamedMar k, but it was
his fault, and it wasthe same at the start in Singapore in 2017,when hetook
out [Kimi] Räikkönen and Verstappen, aswell as himself. He’ll never, ever,
admit that he was at fault – in that respect, he’s very like Michael...”
Of late, too, therehas been pressurefrom his team-mate. For fouryears
Räikkönenwas in the other Ferrari, and that wasfi ne: the two men got along
well, andKimi was nolonger quick enough to be other thanano ccasional
threat. Not surprisingly, Vettel fought strenuouslyto keep himint he team,but in 2019Charles Leclercarrived, immediately – expectedly –proving
an entirely different proposition. In Bahrain, onlyhis second race, he
dominateduntil engine problemsintervened.
Usually Leclerc was the quicker Ferrari driver,alth ough Vettel looked
his old self inMontreal, where he tookpole and held off Hamilton to the
fl ag, despite a briefoff, only to berobbed of victory by a stewards’ penalty
which most felt unjust. For atime thereafter he seemedthoroughlydetu ned,
althoughthere was a late season resurgence, and he won– perhaps
fortuitously – in Singapore.
Now, though, Sebastian faces anuncertain future,for while his Ferrari
contract has butone seasonto run, Leclerc’shas recently beenrenewed–
carryinghim to the end of 2024 and removing any doubts as to wherethe
team’s emphasis now lies.
One hopes that Vettel will ri se t o the challenge, get himself back to
something like the blinding form we saw for so long in his Red Bulldays, but
that seems unlikely. Beyond questionhe has been a great driver,albeit not
in the ‘all time’ category for which heonce seemeddestined,and there will
still b e occasional days in the sun, but probably –sadly – Brundle is right:
“It would be foolish to write Seb off, but I do believe hisbest is behind him.”“I THINK THAT VETTEL’S JUDGEMENT IN WHEEL-TO-WHEEL
COMBAT HAS GONE, AND THAT’S CRITICAL. HE’S ALWAYS
OPERATED ON A PRETTY HIGHLY STRU NG LEVEL, BUT THESE
DAYS HIS DEFAULT MOOD IS TO GET ANGRY, AND THAT’S SAD.
I REMEMBER WHEN HE’D TURN UP WITH A RUCKSACK,
SMILING, READY TO GO – I ADORED HIM IN THOSE DAYS”
MARTIN BRUNDLEFERRARIFERRARI
GP RACING MARCH 2020 61
unsmiling,disa ppointedby Ferra ris invariablynot quiteon the pace
of Mercedes,and perha ps dismayed by theerrors ofjudgement which
havecrept into his driving, as at Monzalast year, or Silverstone where he
clatteredinto Max Verstappen.
“Seb’s Achilles Heel,” saysDavid Coulthard, “isthat he’s still gotthat
‘throwingtoys out of the pram’ behaviour. He defi nitely has aproblem with
that – and Baku in 2017,when he nudgedinto Hamiltonduringthe Safety
Car period,was a case in point.
“Pushed to his raw racing instincts, Vettelis emotional and reactive. You
could say that those characteristics are what has madehim great, but equally
they’vebeen a weaknessthroughout his career – remember his reaction after
the coming-togetherwith Webber inTurke y? He blamedMar k, but it was
his fault, and it wasthe same at the start in Singapore in 2017,when hetook
out [Kimi] Räikkönen and Verstappen, aswell as himself. He’ll never, ever,
admit that he was at fault – in that respect, he’s very like Michael...”
Of late, too, therehas been pressurefrom his team-mate. For fouryears
Räikkönenwas in the other Ferrari, and that wasfi ne: the two men got along
well, andKimi was nolonger quick enough to be other thanano ccasional
threat. Not surprisingly, Vettel fought strenuouslyto keep himint he team,
but in 2019Charles Leclercarrived, immediately – expectedly –proving
an entirely different proposition. In Bahrain, onlyhis second race, he
dominateduntil engine problemsintervened.
Usually Leclerc was the quicker Ferrari driver,alth ough Vettel looked
his old self inMontreal, where he tookpole and held off Hamilton to the
fl ag, despite a briefoff, only to berobbed of victory by a stewards’ penalty
which most felt unjust. For atime thereafter he seemedthoroughlydetu ned,
althoughthere was a late season resurgence, and he won– perhaps
fortuitously – in Singapore.
Now, though, Sebastian faces anuncertain future,for while his Ferrari
contract has butone seasonto run, Leclerc’shas recently beenrenewed–
carryinghim to the end of 2024 and removing any doubts as to wherethe
team’s emphasis now lies.
One hopes that Vettel will ri se t o the challenge, get himself back to
something like the blinding form we saw for so long in his Red Bulldays, but
that seems unlikely. Beyond questionhe has been a great driver,albeit not
in the ‘all time’ category for which heonce seemeddestined,and there will
still b e occasional days in the sun, but probably –sadly – Brundle is right:
“It would be foolish to write Seb off, but I do believe hisbest is behind him.”“I THINK THAT VETTEL’S JUDGEMENT IN WHEEL-TO-WHEEL
COMBAT HAS GONE, AND THAT’S CRITICAL. HE’S ALWAYS
OPERATED ON A PRETTY HIGHLY STRU NG LEVEL, BUT THESE
DAYS HIS DEFAULT MOOD IS TO GET ANGRY, AND THAT’S SAD.
I REMEMBER WHEN HE’D TURN UP WITH A RUCKSACK,
SMILING, READY TO GO – I ADORED HIM IN THOSE DAYS”
MARTIN BRUNDLEFERRARIFERRARI