Sebastian Vettel moved to Ferrari to recreate the golden age of his idol Michael Schumacher. However, he promised more than he actually did. The German moved to Aston Martin in 2021. He said that his six years at Ferrari was a "failure" because he did not win a championship for Ferrari.
Let’s review the ups and downs of Vettel in the Italian team, from his huge popularity to his departure in a disgraceful manner.
Okay: starting with the victory in Sepang
"dream of a lifetime" is the reason Vettel described his switch to Ferrari in the 2015 season.
Almost twenty years ago, Ferrari signed a German world champion Michael Schumacher in order to return to the top of F1. Can this recipe have the same effect the second time? The initial signs of
are very promising. After finishing third in the Australian debut, Vettel won in Malaysia. This was Ferrari's first victory since Fernando Alonso won in Barcelona in 2013. Z1z
Vettel said: “Being a member of this team is very special. Michael is my hero. Now I drive that red car. It’s incredible.” It took four seasons for
Schumacher to win Ferrari. The team's world championship, five seasons won the drivers championship, but Vettel had a small chance to win the personal championship in the first year, but eventually ranked third in the standings. After a disappointing 2016,
's next important chance to win the championship occurred in 2017. After an ideal start in Australia, more victories appeared in Bahrain, Monaco and Hungary. He led Hamilton by as much as 14 points. Will glory really return to Maranello? but it is not the truth. A similar situation occurred in 2018, when both Vettel and Hamilton were fighting for the fifth world championship.
Vettel once again opened with a perfect performance, winning in Australia and Bahrain, and after beating Hamilton at Hamilton's home at Silverstone, he led Hamilton by eight points. However, he hardly knew that after winning the Belgian Grand Prix, Vettel’s Ferrari career was left with only one victory. It was a race held in Singapore in September 2019, and he made an impressive appearance. The circle won the victory.
bad: the loss of the championship
When Vettel reflects on his Ferrari career, he will definitely look back on 2017 and 2018, both of which he was reversed while leading.
has a critical moment in every season, especially the occurrence of a car accident, which finally made his chance of regaining the driver's crown from Hamilton disappeared. The first time
was a cannibalism at the beginning of the 2017 Singapore Grand Prix. Vettel collided with teammate Raikkonen when the grid was cut to the start, causing the Ferrari two cars to retire, and Verstappen was also affected. This picture still appears in F1 trailers to highlight the drama of the sport.
Afterwards, Verstappen accused Vettel and said: "I think it was mainly Sebastian who started to squeeze me. Maybe he didn't see Kimi on the left, but this is not an excuse. He should not take these risks." After
Singapore, Vettel's subsequent premature exit in Japan actually declared his defeat in the championship.
The turning point in 2018 occurred in Germany. Vettel seemed to have won a victory that seemed to give him a double-digit lead, but as it started to rain, Vettel slipped off the track and hit the wall to retire.
This was a low-speed accident, but the Ferrari car got stuck in a buffer zone and its nose cone hit the tire wall. Vettel beat the steering wheel in frustration and said via the team radio: "For the sake of God, sorry, guys! "Z1z
" I don't think this was a huge mistake," Vettel said afterwards. "I will not lose sleep because of a mistake. That was one of the moments, small mistakes, big disappointments."
However, "Times" The magazine then recounted the true cost of this error. Hamilton continued to win the game. It was him, not Vettel, who won the competition for the fifth world championship.
Embarrassing: Baku's angry and painful breakup
What we are seeing now is Vettel and HamirThe respect and admiration between the two, you would not think that only three years ago, they were fighting hard behind the safety car during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The Mercedes driver carried out a "brake test" on Vettel. As a result, Ferrari hit his car's butt. Vettel was very annoyed. He parked next to Hamilton and suddenly turned and hit him.
Maybe Hamilton dropped the speed too low when he pressed the car, but this is not the reason Vettel can crash. Vettel was given a 10-second penalty stop, but no further punishment. He finally saw his mistake and apologized publicly, while also promising to help young drivers drive safely.
When Vettel left Ferrari, the embarrassing thing happened again, which would only have a bad effect on the team.
2020 is the strangest year in most people's memory, and the F1 season starting in July will take some time to adapt. This means that Vettel has 17 games to participate in, but he knows that he will leave Ferrari after the race, the team told him that he does not need his services in 2021, Carlos Sainz has been hired to replace his position.
The arrival of Charles Leclerc in the 2019 season and the speed at which he gains the advantage over Vettel clearly triggered this decision. But this is still shocking, especially for the Germans, who thought his contract was about to be extended until the team leader Mattia Binotto gave other instructions.
Vettel said: "When Mattia called me, I knew from his voice that I couldn't do anything to change his mind. It didn't make sense to try to convince him. In addition to feeling pain, I was also confused. Before this call, we had been discussing extending my contract. I really hope they have talked to me before, or at least raised it sooner.” Z1z
After that, the situation quickly declined. Vettel had a terrible season at Ferrari. He found himself competing in the midfield and even struggling at the end of the team, except for the podium at the Turkish Grand Prix. He was puzzled as to why his car looked so much slower than Leclerc's, implying that his partner has always been favored by "Ferrari's future".
Yes, over time, at Ferrari, Vettel is indeed more likely to make mistakes. Daniel Ricciardo even coined the term "Seb spin" to describe the phenomenon of track spinning, just like the former world champion at Ferrari As shown many times in his career.
However, in 2021 and beyond, Vettel, who drives an Aston Martin car, has a good opportunity to dispel the embarrassment he once had, and he has more good times in the future.
