Wednesday May 12, 2021
Is your F1 career over soon?
Motorsport icons count hard on Vettel
By Jannik Kube
Instead of starting again at Aston Martin, Sebastian Vettel sinks into the lower midfield in Formula 1. There is no longer any trace of the departure. Instead, more voices are louder, after which Vettel’s F1 time is drawing to a close.
After six more or less disappointing years at Ferrari full of breakdowns, Sebastian Vettel ventured into Aston Martin this season. However, the move from the Heppenheimer to the traditional British team in the motorsport scene did not only meet with approval at the time of the announcement. The former Formula 1 driver Gerhard Berger even publicly advised his former Toro Rosso protégé to resign. Vettel himself also spoke of “self-doubt” in view of the lack of success last November.
The move to Aston Martin, the team that had provided many highlights in the 2020 season under the old name Racing Point, raised new hopes for the 33-year-old. Before the start of the season, Vettel proclaimed third place in the constructors’ championship as “the goal” for 2021. However, two months later, the reality is clearly dreary. With just five points, Aston Martin is currently only in seventh place in the team comparison and does not duel with Mercedes and Red Bull, but only with Alpine or AlphaTauri.
Vettel himself is still completely waiting for his first counter. However, this fact is not solely due to the poor pace of the AMR21. After all, Vettel is still in a deep form. Already at the start in Bahrain, the Hesse Alpine driver Esteban Ocon drove into the rear. An impetuous maneuver that immediately brought back memories of the bitterest Ferrari days for many fans. But apart from the early mistake, Vettel has missed world championship achievements so far.
“No secret that we wanted to be stronger”
In three of the first four races, the German landed behind his team-mate Lance Stroll. Since the Canadian, who in the past was not always flawless, also leads with a score of 3: 1 in qualifying, Vettel is even threatened with number two status at Aston Martin. For the four-time world champion, this would be the next blow in the neck. Despite all the problems, Vettel does not regret his move yet. “I’m very happy where I am. Even if the performance is not yet as we wanted,” said the veteran on the past race weekend. At the same time, Vettel spoke openly about the weak start. “It’s no secret that we wanted to be stronger than we are,” said the driver of the team performance.
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While Vettel continues to hope for an upswing due to upcoming improvements to the car, many former companions already sense his imminent end in Formula 1. “The stars are not good for him,” said ex-team-mate Mark Webber to the “Marca” and attested Vettel a certain “fatigue”. Meanwhile, Berger found in “Sport Bild” that the former dominator has now “passed his zenith”.
Former Formula 3000 driver Jason Watt even goes one step further. “Vettel is done. It’s been a long time since he did anything good. He makes a lot of mistakes and looks like someone who is under a lot of pressure,” the 51-year-old ranted to “formula1news.co.uk” and added: “I don’t know if he can keep it up mentally.” In fact, the pressure on Vettel increases with every race. His end in Formula 1 could actually come sooner than he’d like.
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