Sebastian Vettel Bids Ferrari Farewell
The end of the 2020 Formula One campaign this weekend also marks the end of the relationship between Sebastian Vettel and the Ferrari team. The German driver joined the Scuderia in 2015, but after six topsy turvy seasons it all comes down to this weekend.
Abu Dhabi won’t be a big send off. This season has been an extremely disappointing, yet appropriate, end to their relationship. The SF1000 has spent the majority of the season in the midfield, and Vettel in particular has struggled to perform to his high standards.
His young teammate Charles Leclerc has proven himself worthy of the number one driver position within the team in only his second year there, and his third in F1 overall. In 2020, Leclerc has out-qualified Vettel 12 times to four and has outscored Vettel 98 points to 33.
While it has been an anticlimactic end for Vettel with the team he grew up idolising, it is still appropriate that it is compared as a break up of a relationship, not the ending of a partnership. Even Vettel himself went so far as to describe it as such.
“It will be just like the end of a relationship,” he told Corriere Dello Sport.
“I will miss the people, obviously the spirit, Ferrari, the legend that has fascinated me since I was a child, inspired by Michael Schumacher.
“When you are part of a team, you can see what happens behind the scenes and get to know the people.
“I think they will miss me the most, but good news is that I will see some of them next year, although in a different guise.”
When the decision was announced earlier this year, he again emphasised his adoration for the Italian team. His love began with his admiration of his idol countryman Michael Schumacher, who is intrinsically tied to the Italians.
“Scuderia Ferrari occupies a special place in Formula 1 and I hope it gets all the success it deserves. Finally, I want to thank the whole Ferrari family and above all its ‘tifosi’ all around the world, for the support they have given me over the years,” Vettel said in a statement.
When Vettel joined Ferrari in 2015, this love of the team was immediately obvious. The year prior he had failed to defend his world title with Red Bull in what was a very disappointing season in which he was bested by his younger teammate Daniel Ricciardo.
Ferrari themselves also suffered a poor 2014 season. Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen finished sixth and 12th in the driver standings and the team finished fourth in the constructors standings. They failed to win a single race all season and Alonso’s podiums in China and Hungary were the only top three finishes.
So, when Vettel won in only his second race with the team in Malaysia the love affair began with a massive spark.
“Si ragazzi! Mi senti? Mi senti? Grazie, grazie. GRAZIE! Dai! Forza Ferrari!” yelled a jubilant Vettel over the radio following the chequered flag. “Ferrari’s back,” declared his race engineer Riccardo Adami.
His third win came later that year in Singapore, with Adami this time showering Vettel in praise.
“Yes, you did it! You did it! Pole position and race lead from lap one. You’re great, you’re magic,” said Adami at the chequered flag. Vettel responded in kind with what became his traditional celebratory “grazie ragazzi” before breaking out into song over the radio.
The joy that Vettel shared with the team was so obvious. It set him apart from the other former champions who all arrived with Ferrari with the mission of winning the world title in red.
However, Vettel would ultimately join that long list of champions who failed in that mission with Ferrari. Despite a charge at the dominant Mercedes in 2017 and 2018, he could not wrestle the title away from Lewis Hamilton.
Critical mistakes in Singapore (2017) and Germany, Italy and the United States (2018) all left Vettel with too much to overcome.
Whether it was simply the pressure of the moment or a feeling of being uncomfortable with the car, he became synonymous with spinning his Ferrari out of favourable positions. All the while, Hamilton remained a constant at the front of the field.
Just like Alonso before him, there would be no Ferrari world champion under his watch. The mantle for that hope now moves to Leclerc. It’s been 13 years and counting since the last world title. For a team with such a historic background in the sport, to go so long without a championship will always bring pressure.
Schumacher ended the long wait in 2000 when he won Ferrari’s first driver’s championship since Jody Scheckter won in 1979. Raikkonen remains the last driver to win the big prize, and is the only one other than Schumacher to have won the title in the last 40 years.
Vettel got to have one last happy memory with Ferrari at Turkey, his last lap overtake of Leclerc allowed him to slot into third place and be on the podium for likely the final time in the famous red of the Scuderia. However, there will be no final race win with the team.
He moves on to Aston Martin for 2021. A new project for the German will hopefully see him regain his form. After all, he is a four time champion and one of the most decorated F1 drivers of all time with 53 race wins and 121 podiums.
His experience and skill will play a big role in Aston Martin’s attempts to rise up the grid and potentially challenge Mercedes for their world titles, and a rejuvenated Vettel is as valuable to have as anything else.
But in Abu Dhabi, Vettel will get the send off he doesn’t quite deserve but the one that seems most appropriate. The time has come to move on, but that doesn’t make it any less bittersweet. A disappointing end to an anticlimactic relationship.
