Vettel’s Tally of Championships Might Not See Daylight Again

Four times world champion, Sebastian Vettel celebrating after winning his first race with Ferrari.

Just as much disheartening as it might feel to many, the truth is that the 2018 season might be the full stop for Vettel to ever increase his tally again. While his rival, Lewis Hamilton has been on a rampage since 2014, winning 4 world championships within a span of 5 years with a 5th championship already done and dusted; Vettel’s journey has been the opposite of that.

Vettel congratulating Lewis Hamilton after the latter secured his fifth world championship.

To give the picture a broader view, let’s take into consideration the fact that Vettel has already turned 30 and hence, effectively out of the age bracket that usually attracts many top teams to recruit the driver, with a long term association and an approach in mind. He already has spent 4 years with the Scuderia, a partnership that bore barely any fruits and with an ongoing spree of errors at Vettel’s end, hopes – if any, seems to diminish already. Needless to mention that even though, Ferrari has kept up its notorious reputation of making costly strategic errors, the team has, is and will always fall immune to any blame or whatsoever. It’s a full fledge works team after all. It is here to stay, for as long as Formula 1 is. Vettel is not and time is ticking out for him. A few more years and he will be conducting interviews on podium.

Vettel crashed out of lead in the final stages of the German Grand Prix. This retirement proved to be turning point in his championship fight for a 5th world title.

To put the state into further jeopardy, a young, talented and a highly sought after Monegasque – Charles Leclerc is waiting in the wings to occupy the seat being vacated by the ace Finn – Kimi Raikkonen. Simplifying it, if there are any two drivers to be in a title contention next year, it will be the duo of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc. Hamilton being on top of his game with all the lessons learned all these years while Leclerc being a rising star and an unstoppable force. Vettel doesn’t falls in the equation even remotely.

Besides, a new crop of young drivers is already ripe and ready to fill in the gaps created by the retirees; a list both Hamilton and Vettel will join soon, notwithstanding that Hamilton will at least leave as the 2nd most successful driver in F1 history. Sainz, Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, Russell just to name a few. And then there is Antonio Giovinazzi, a Ferrari junior. What there is to learn is the fact that it’s pretty much over for Vettel. The German enjoyed his fair share of success with Red Bull for 4 years straight but it was it. To expect that he will win a title yet again is being delusional and longing for a bit too much. The big teams are after the young guns. Whether it be Red Bull or McLaren, two of those teams with the biggest budgets on the grid, yet having one of the youngest lineups for 2019.

Charles Leclerc is among many of the up and coming young drivers stepping in Formula 1.

In addition to that, one must not forget that the career of any driver can take a turn in reminiscence to that of Alonso. It’s a chapter that no other driver will ever want to entail in their careers. And Vettel could be an exception here. It’s already 5 years since his last titular triumph and it’s counting. Who knows that it might count until he retires – merely as a 4 times world champion, like Alain Prost. The list of the perils is never ending. Ferrari will reevaluate its options post 2020 and Giovinazzi will be right there. If Vettel doesn’t seem a good match with Leclerc, it will be a no-brainer for Ferrari to bid him farewell from Maranello and welcome their long awaited junior. After all, Giovinazzi is just 24 years of age (26 by 2020), very talented, has an impressive curriculum vitae, a Ferrari junior, already signed up for a full time role with Sauber (Ferrari-B team). He is Italian and so is Ferrari.

It might not seem a very good ending to a career that took off so speedily but it is an ending that surely looks inevitable. It’s now or never, most likely never for Vettel to fetch another title to his tally, given that he has lost this year's campaign too. 2018 for Vettel might just be the 2012 for Alonso, the last time he tried his luck only to be met with disappointment. It has ever been a downhill ride for him, and so it could be for Vettel.

Two times world champion Fernando Alonso retired from Formula 1 at the end of the season. The Spaniard hasn't won a single title since 2006 while his last attempt at winning one was in 2012.

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Farhan Khurram

CEO, Cofounder, Editor-in-Chief F1 and IndyCar.

In his own words, “A nature photographer, avid writer & 3D designer. Formula 1 & Aviation gets my adrenaline rush.”

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