Post by Dirty Epic on May 12, 2020 6:34:31 GMT
Perhaps not unexpected news but the timing of it is Sebastian Vettel will be moving on from Ferrari at the end of the year.
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/52612216
Apparently contract talks have broken down between him and Ferrari. Personally and others might disagree with me it is a shame he didn’t take at least one WDC with his time at Ferrari and certainly 2017-18 were his best chances to do so. Rightly or wrongly Seb has let some of the pressure of the sport and his rivals – pretty much Lewis Hamilton, although you can say he’s let issues with Kivyat, Verstappen, Leclerc and to a lesser extent Räikkönen and Ricciardo affect him over the years. Also I feel personally the media haven’t exactly been kind to him and some of his errors and meltdowns have been picked on and over analysed by them much more than they would do for other drivers… I’m not even thinking of Hamilton here but the likes of Verstappen etc. who aren’t error proof either but have a much calmer, pragmatic approach to them when they do occur. However Vettel can be his own worst enemy at times and some of these meltdowns from F-word tirades to driving into/off rivals and more perhaps in hindsight should have been shrugged off better and might have delivered the WDC he desired with Ferrari?
It’s not impossible that F1 doesn’t return for the 2020 season… if so Vettel may have ended his career with the Prancing Horse. The timing of this announcement does seem odd and kind of does tie in with the rumours the season might not run this year as surely to keep the momentum and enthusiasm within the team this would be handled and announced later in the year. Also 2020 hasn’t exactly been good/kind to Ferrari who’ve been right centre in the middle of Italy’s Covid-19 outbreak and perhaps a clear the decks outlook has been faced up to in Maranello.
Does this mean Ferrari will now concentrate on Leclerc? Seems the logical and clever idea to do so as for me he seems most likely to deliver the WDC for them. In hindsight you could say they should’ve given Charles more of an even hand last season and a few more wins may have come his way. Maybe if any kind of season is salvaged for 2020 perhaps Leclerc and Vettel need to work more as a team, acknowledge perhaps they probably don’t have the car and people behind them to realistically beat Mercedes and maybe Red Bull for that matter and get the car up to speed for 2021… maybe other teams will have that idea if there is some kind of F1 this year.
Hamilton at Ferrari has always been a strong rumour and maybe it’s finally on and he’s been tempted to race with the Prancing Horse? However I can’t really see it happening. Lewis is very, very happy at Mercedes and Mercedes, Toto Wolff, James Allison etc. seem more than happy with him, what he contributes and brings to the team, the current set up he has with Bottas and as much as you can viewing from the outside they seem to have a relationship which is much more than a team and driver one. Certainly much more than Lewis ever had at McLaren. Also the Ferrari culture at Maranello rightly or wrongly seems a lot more stricter, restrictive and doesn’t really fit with Lewis’s off track activities so I feel he’ll finish his career (and maybe F1 generally) with Mercedes and with the people who have brought out the best in him, in my opinion both on and off track. Still stranger things have happened and money and the lure of the Prancing Horse may be something irresistible for Hamilton. Also the rule changes in 2022, Wolff’s recent involvement with Aston Martin and the Stroll family and perhaps inevitably Mercedes may not be on top in the near future could see this happen?
Since the Schumi-era Ferrari haven’t really been the same. Yes they had the WDC with Räikkönen in 2007 and perhaps could (and there was a couple of races where bad luck intervened!) have followed this up in 2008 with Massa. I suppose the weight of expectation for Alonso and Vettel to deliver WDC’s has been so great both inside Ferrari and outside within the media has been too great and again sadly they’ve not delivered. Alonso certainly could have done in 2010/12 but was denied by Vettel who seemed very comfortable, confident and secure within the Red Bull set up which maybe in hindsight he should have perhaps stayed with. What did surprise me when Vettel moved to Ferrari and unlike the situation when Schumacher moved there it’s a mystery why Seb didn’t take some of his Red Bull people to Maranello with him. They’d have perhaps made him more comfortable within Ferrari and most of his success did come with race engineer ‘Rocky’ - Guillaume Rocquelin and to some extent Christian Horner, Helmut Marko etc. Perhaps Ferrari wouldn’t allow some of these people to move over with Vettel. Perhaps Red Bull wouldn’t… but it does seem strange that they didn’t move when Michael Schumacher did get most of the former Bennetton people to come over with him in 1997 and a few years later the rest is history! Mind you Schumi and Vettel are very different characters too!!
What next for Sebastian? Can’t see him going back to Red Bull as there’s too much history between him and Max Verstappen who seems locked on to a long term future with them. Not impossible mind you and certainly much more of a possibility of a Red Bull return for him than there was/is of Fernando Alonso ever going there. McLaren as the BBC article states is a option but would they split up a seemingly good team in Sainz and Norris who’ve delivered results and brought that team respectability last season from an almost embarrassing position they were in when Alonso ruled the roost there. The factor in Vettel’s favour is Mercedes power at McLaren in 2021 and might just placate things in Suttgart for them, particularly so if Hamilton stays on with the works team. Can’t see Renault, Racing Point or any other teams being an option for Vettel unless he steps down a rung to the so-called Ferrari B-Team’s like Haas or Alfa Romeo. Not impossible and with Alfa he’d be in a familiar team environment with Räikkönen who even though the two don’t really seem to be mates… they get along and do work well together. That paring could certainly bring Alfa up and be beneficial to them and the Ferrari family generally.
I think on reflection Seb will perhaps look back on his Ferrari career as a missed opportunity. Arguably it may have been his frustrations, nerve and demons which proved to be his downfall at Maranello and to be fair to Ferrari they certainly put together a car, team and a whole lot of effort in for Vettel to have delivered that WDC over that last few seasons… arguably more than what was offered to Massa and Alonso in the early 2010’s. Perhaps he’s cried wolf (no Mercedes pun intended) too much with the men from Maranello, they’ve called his bluff and he’s lost!
I hope Vettel gets a good move and stays in F1 as personally I do like him (more off track) and do feel the media did stick it’s knives out and did a huge witch-hunt against him when things went wrong.
At least it’s good to have some kind of F1 news recently… again not sure whether they will or even if it’s a good idea now that there should be a season for 2020 as like football any kind of season which is run will always feel a bit strange a bit devalued compared to what’s gone before… I suppose there’s been much more important things to look at and focus on right now that F1 and it’s drivers/personalities.
www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/52612216
Apparently contract talks have broken down between him and Ferrari. Personally and others might disagree with me it is a shame he didn’t take at least one WDC with his time at Ferrari and certainly 2017-18 were his best chances to do so. Rightly or wrongly Seb has let some of the pressure of the sport and his rivals – pretty much Lewis Hamilton, although you can say he’s let issues with Kivyat, Verstappen, Leclerc and to a lesser extent Räikkönen and Ricciardo affect him over the years. Also I feel personally the media haven’t exactly been kind to him and some of his errors and meltdowns have been picked on and over analysed by them much more than they would do for other drivers… I’m not even thinking of Hamilton here but the likes of Verstappen etc. who aren’t error proof either but have a much calmer, pragmatic approach to them when they do occur. However Vettel can be his own worst enemy at times and some of these meltdowns from F-word tirades to driving into/off rivals and more perhaps in hindsight should have been shrugged off better and might have delivered the WDC he desired with Ferrari?
It’s not impossible that F1 doesn’t return for the 2020 season… if so Vettel may have ended his career with the Prancing Horse. The timing of this announcement does seem odd and kind of does tie in with the rumours the season might not run this year as surely to keep the momentum and enthusiasm within the team this would be handled and announced later in the year. Also 2020 hasn’t exactly been good/kind to Ferrari who’ve been right centre in the middle of Italy’s Covid-19 outbreak and perhaps a clear the decks outlook has been faced up to in Maranello.
Does this mean Ferrari will now concentrate on Leclerc? Seems the logical and clever idea to do so as for me he seems most likely to deliver the WDC for them. In hindsight you could say they should’ve given Charles more of an even hand last season and a few more wins may have come his way. Maybe if any kind of season is salvaged for 2020 perhaps Leclerc and Vettel need to work more as a team, acknowledge perhaps they probably don’t have the car and people behind them to realistically beat Mercedes and maybe Red Bull for that matter and get the car up to speed for 2021… maybe other teams will have that idea if there is some kind of F1 this year.
Hamilton at Ferrari has always been a strong rumour and maybe it’s finally on and he’s been tempted to race with the Prancing Horse? However I can’t really see it happening. Lewis is very, very happy at Mercedes and Mercedes, Toto Wolff, James Allison etc. seem more than happy with him, what he contributes and brings to the team, the current set up he has with Bottas and as much as you can viewing from the outside they seem to have a relationship which is much more than a team and driver one. Certainly much more than Lewis ever had at McLaren. Also the Ferrari culture at Maranello rightly or wrongly seems a lot more stricter, restrictive and doesn’t really fit with Lewis’s off track activities so I feel he’ll finish his career (and maybe F1 generally) with Mercedes and with the people who have brought out the best in him, in my opinion both on and off track. Still stranger things have happened and money and the lure of the Prancing Horse may be something irresistible for Hamilton. Also the rule changes in 2022, Wolff’s recent involvement with Aston Martin and the Stroll family and perhaps inevitably Mercedes may not be on top in the near future could see this happen?
Since the Schumi-era Ferrari haven’t really been the same. Yes they had the WDC with Räikkönen in 2007 and perhaps could (and there was a couple of races where bad luck intervened!) have followed this up in 2008 with Massa. I suppose the weight of expectation for Alonso and Vettel to deliver WDC’s has been so great both inside Ferrari and outside within the media has been too great and again sadly they’ve not delivered. Alonso certainly could have done in 2010/12 but was denied by Vettel who seemed very comfortable, confident and secure within the Red Bull set up which maybe in hindsight he should have perhaps stayed with. What did surprise me when Vettel moved to Ferrari and unlike the situation when Schumacher moved there it’s a mystery why Seb didn’t take some of his Red Bull people to Maranello with him. They’d have perhaps made him more comfortable within Ferrari and most of his success did come with race engineer ‘Rocky’ - Guillaume Rocquelin and to some extent Christian Horner, Helmut Marko etc. Perhaps Ferrari wouldn’t allow some of these people to move over with Vettel. Perhaps Red Bull wouldn’t… but it does seem strange that they didn’t move when Michael Schumacher did get most of the former Bennetton people to come over with him in 1997 and a few years later the rest is history! Mind you Schumi and Vettel are very different characters too!!
What next for Sebastian? Can’t see him going back to Red Bull as there’s too much history between him and Max Verstappen who seems locked on to a long term future with them. Not impossible mind you and certainly much more of a possibility of a Red Bull return for him than there was/is of Fernando Alonso ever going there. McLaren as the BBC article states is a option but would they split up a seemingly good team in Sainz and Norris who’ve delivered results and brought that team respectability last season from an almost embarrassing position they were in when Alonso ruled the roost there. The factor in Vettel’s favour is Mercedes power at McLaren in 2021 and might just placate things in Suttgart for them, particularly so if Hamilton stays on with the works team. Can’t see Renault, Racing Point or any other teams being an option for Vettel unless he steps down a rung to the so-called Ferrari B-Team’s like Haas or Alfa Romeo. Not impossible and with Alfa he’d be in a familiar team environment with Räikkönen who even though the two don’t really seem to be mates… they get along and do work well together. That paring could certainly bring Alfa up and be beneficial to them and the Ferrari family generally.
I think on reflection Seb will perhaps look back on his Ferrari career as a missed opportunity. Arguably it may have been his frustrations, nerve and demons which proved to be his downfall at Maranello and to be fair to Ferrari they certainly put together a car, team and a whole lot of effort in for Vettel to have delivered that WDC over that last few seasons… arguably more than what was offered to Massa and Alonso in the early 2010’s. Perhaps he’s cried wolf (no Mercedes pun intended) too much with the men from Maranello, they’ve called his bluff and he’s lost!
I hope Vettel gets a good move and stays in F1 as personally I do like him (more off track) and do feel the media did stick it’s knives out and did a huge witch-hunt against him when things went wrong.
At least it’s good to have some kind of F1 news recently… again not sure whether they will or even if it’s a good idea now that there should be a season for 2020 as like football any kind of season which is run will always feel a bit strange a bit devalued compared to what’s gone before… I suppose there’s been much more important things to look at and focus on right now that F1 and it’s drivers/personalities.