Why did it go so wrong for Sebastian Vettel at Ferrari?

So, it’s official – Sebastian Vettel is finally leaving Ferrari. After the 2020 season, in whatever form that it takes, the German driver will leave the iconic Italian team. The team’s principal Mattia Binotto said that it was a decision by mutual consent, but it’s not hard to imagine that Ferrari are pleased with the news. For Vettel’s team was one of lost potential – a World Champion promising more success, Vettel was frequently error-prone and outpaced by his rivals.

It seems somewhat unfair to completely negatively judge Vettel’s tenure. As Binotto said of the German driver’s departure, he already has a place in Ferrari’s history. He won 14 Grand Prix with the team, making him their third most successful driver, and he is top in terms of points scored. Vettel is certainly not a shabby driver, winning four World Championships consecutively between 2010 and 2013 (although none of these were with Ferrari), and he exhibited competent driving for the past five years. Competent, though, is little if it doesn’t win you races.

Ferrari’s story in 2019 was more that of Leclerc than that of Vettel

Although Binotto praised Vettel’s time with the team, it’s hard to ignore the signs of decline that have festered away. In the 2019 season, Vettel only managed two pole positions and a single win (in Singapore), one less than his teammate Charles Leclerc. Ferrari continually stressed their commitment to keeping Vettel as first driver, but it’s hard to see how that would have been a sustainable state of affairs when Leclerc kept outdriving and outperforming the German. Ferrari’s story in 2019 was more that of Leclerc than that of Vettel, who often even struggled to make podium finishes. He eventually came fifth, behind the debuting Leclerc.

The excitement followed Lewis Hamilton, Leclerc and Max Verstappen, drivers of the future who made Vettel look increasingly like part of the past. One reason for this is that Vettel was so heavily prone to making errors, typically unforced, and one mistake invariably led to another. I’ve written about this before – Vettel has a catalogue of race mistakes that seems really ill-fitting of a multiple champion. This wasn’t what Ferrari wanted when they signed him up. They wanted further victories, and saw precious few.

Vettel wanted to be the next Schumacher; it didn’t happen for him at Ferrari

There’s also a lot to be said about his temperament – to an observer, it looked as if the German became hot-headed at the first sign of trouble. In 2017 in Baku, he rammed Hamilton when he mistakenly and angrily believed he’d been brake-tested. At the 2019 Bahraini GP Vettel reacted angrily to being passed by both Hamilton and Leclerc, leading the German to spin and struggle to recover. A successful F1 driver needs to keep his calm under pressure, but Vettel would just collapse. He wanted to be the next Michael Schumacher, but Schumacher’s fiery driving was matched with wins too.

I remember when I first started watching F1, and the Hamilton-Vettel rivalry was the sport’s big story. Ten years later, and with Vettel leaving Ferrari, the picture couldn’t look more different. The Brit is still on top of his game, while the German is known predominantly for his errors. Now Leclerc is likely to take the number one spot, Vettel was destined to fade into the background, increasingly outmatched by emerging talent and his old rival. This always felt as if it was going to have to happen – it’s a big headline, but a necessary one. Ferrari haven’t won a Championship since 2007 – they need to look to the future, and there’s no longer a place for Vettel there.