Probably the most polarising team in the current standing of the sport is Ferrari. They are, one might say, a curious case of “the nearly impregnable being suppressed.”
To put it succinctly, they are the mighties not winning again.
The similes are endless. You can suit yourself.
But while by no stretch of the imagination, were Mercedes the David to Ferrari’s Goliath in 2018, the Maranello-based outfit endowed with massive experience, funds, technical know-how, and whatnot, also had the services of a multiple-title winning force in Vettel, who, tied with Lewis with four titles entered 2018 with perhaps a renewed vigor to perform.
After all, last year, Hamilton, in the closing stages had reduced Vettel’s confidence the same way a dry fruit box is reduced to a solitary surviving piece of raisin.
So, what happened?
One may have heard a common phrase that sounds legit for it’s based on grounds of neutrality: “may the best man win!”
Well, truth be told, it does seem, that 2018, within the next few days, is going to unveil the better man of the two contestants who, since the beginning, were eying the crown.
Make no mistake, Sebastian Vettel has driven some fantastic races.
In winning 5 amazing Grands Prix, including two in succession, yet again in a repeat of last year’s outcomes at Australia, followed by Bahrain, Vettel gained territorial supremacy so to speak at two crucial green-zones for Lewis, in both Montreal (Canadian GP), and Silverstone (British Grand Prix).
It cannot be undermined that in a strong start to the season, Vettel increased the pressure to Hamilton, both drivers gunning for that fifth crown, by gathering a hat-trick of poles, beginning from Bahrain, China, Azerbaijan.
Soon, things would change
And it was thereafter that a period of change would strike, ultimately, coupled with unforced errors ruining Vettel’s title hopes.
In fact, by the time, Vettel entered the 2018 Hungarian Grand Prix, a race he lost to Lewis, his qualifying form prior to Hungary didn’t expose any major weaklings.
Doubters may care to note, the two had an identical number of poles before hitting the Hungaroring: 5.
But by the time F1 would proceed to the mid-season break, with 12 rounds completed, Vettel would stand 24 points adrift of Hamilton.
Lewis would enter his break, winning ahead of Sebastian, at a track where he’d lost to Vettel, in 2017.
Fundamentally, even a solitary point’s gap to a driver running in your pursuit can be a headache.
At the time drivers were exiting Hungaroring, Vettel was dealing with a 24-point gap to Lewis. Not a harbinger of optimism- was it?
In a sport where a nano-second brings up a distinct change in fortunes, it remains to be discussed sufficiently that did the big margin just before hitting the break, hurt Vettel’s psyche?
But while conspiracy theories in F1 are about as purposeful as the idea of bathing in waters infested with alligators, immediate doubts surrounding Vettel growing wearier were dashed to the ground as he’d emerge with a spectacular win at Spa, in the resumption race at Belgium.
In winning ahead of Lewis, in a supremely quick Ferrari, the German raised hopes once again that ‘his horse was finally prancing and that he wasn’t done, just yet.”
The fiery win at Spa, where Vettel got off to a flier and beat Hamilton in a super move on the main-straights reduced what had been a 24-point gap to the Birton to being just 17.
How things changed then?
Then, finally, post Spa’s ebullient run for the Ferrari, that the team’s chances at winning would come to blows.
It wasn’t that Vettel, the pole-sitter at Germany, retiring in the closing stages at Hockenheim had done himself a great favour, losing a near-certain win inexplicably.
A question, right before Hungary was raised- was Vettel under some durress, understandably so, if at all, because of the Hamilton-factor?
That he would fail to win a single race at any Asian track thereafter, with the battles at Singapore, Russia, Japan only embracing Hamilton made a somewhat possible chance nearly next to impossible.
So consistently has Vettel been outpaced by a Hamilton- currently driving as if he’s a man possessed- that if one doesn’t hear “Get in there Lewis, brilliant job mate,” it doesn’t seem like a race, after all.
It’s like hearing the desserts will be served to post the main course ma’am in a fine-dining restaurant as a rudimentary expectation.
But a question remains
Was Vettel’s downward spiral triggered by events such as Monza’ opening lap-drama, inability to pass Lewis at Hungary and the failure at Germany enough to undo all the good work he’d put in?
Or was Lewis’ phenomenal form in the latter half of the season just too good a force to deal with?
In a sport ever reliant on speed, it’s after all, the mental power that matters. Maybe that’s why Hamilton so insists on the spiritual power he finds in the phrase, “Still, I rise!”
Surely, putting the wrong choice of rubber on Seb’s car- as seen at Suzuka- didn’t help the man one bit.
Ferrari, no stranger to turning promising races into a damp squib, consider all they’ve done to Raikkonen in these years, should ideally offer an explanation or admit to their repeated strategic failings.
But that Vettel will continue his fight and might possibly, win something ahead, isn’t a shot in the dark, given he’s turned things around in spectacular fashion.
His indomitable run in his Red Bull years, where he was still inexperienced, serves a clue.
But pitted right against Vettel’s lost chances is Lewis’ form
Given that Hamilton’s literally owning every track he is racing at, having clinched his eightieth pole recently, and won a stunning seventy-first Grand Prix win, how can he ever be defeated?
In an age where it’s easy to have an opinion but difficult to base it on firm reasoning, it’s easy to direct one’s ire, especially if you’re a Ferrari fan on the German driver.
Still what doesn’t change is that Sebastian is a four-time winner
You can’t undermine that he’s the man who was responsible for giving Red Bull their most thrilling era of dominance, at a time where he was still learning and not profoundly experienced. That Vettel gave Toro Rosso their only win and has brought Ferrari as close as they’ve reached to Merc, of course with Raikkonen pulling in some punches, speaks of the German’s raw talent and feel for racing.
But maybe, his biggest learning from this year would be on how to keep cool under duress, the way Lewis has managed, despite dealing with tough situations such as Silverstone, where he was hit, Baku, where he won despite standing hardly a chance to win, and, given where he may have felt he was when Vettel secured that hat-trick of wins.
That Vettel fought and went often to limits that only he could’ve have explored, nearly causing Paddock nervousness in a near-subliminal drive at Spa in a car that seemed destined to go no other way but flat-out, Vettel had his moments, if not a treasure trove of memories.
That he can emerge stronger next year is something that rests in the lap of the future. That he might have some inspiration on offer from a man who believes, “Still, I rise!”