He effectively has been. What has he got to lose? Cant blame strat people for losing it in first corner though can he?????
I was never particularly keen on Vettel when he was at RBR. Didn't have anything against him, I think it was more the smugness of Horner and the ridiculousness of Helmut that just made me not want them to succeed. But when he made the move to Ferrari, I really fell in love with the bloke. It coming to this is pretty sad, and watching him losing his mojo is actually quite difficult to watch. I hope he moves on and finds his will to race again soon. Pity he couldn't secure the second Merc seat in some ways. He's falling apart at Ferrari, and he's a better driver that this. We need these guys at the front.
Agreed. I always felt he was massively overrated (well, as overrated as a 4 x WDC can be) and I always felt that Lewis was a better driver than him but back in those years RBR held the aces and McLaren suffered some poor reliability. He is still a superb front runner but his racing overall can get quite ragged and he has really struggled against a couple of quality team mates in Ricciardo and LeClerc, as well as coming off second best in the Hamilton title fights. That said, he’s miles better than he is showing currently and it’s quite hard to watch. I do wonder if there are politics at play but who knows. Given he isn’t joining Mercedes, it’s not as if he’s joining an arch rival so it would seem pointless to make Vettels life harder than it needs to be. I actually think he struggles to be as motivated to fight for lower points- psychologically he’s not as sharp perhaps? I don’t think a couple of years out would do him any harm whatsoever, spend some quality family time and then come back like Prost in 93? Let’s see!
If the relationship is that fractured right now, you might as well pay off his contract and stick somebody else in the car for the rest of the season. If he's done with F1 and doesn't want to settle for a consolation drive (which would be understandable), I'm pretty sure he could land a drive in Indy pretty easily next season. It might just get him firing again.
I think he will be at Aston Martin next year ( possibly even RP this year ? ) . Then we will see if his heart is in it . As a person I have always liked him because of his sense of a Humour , don’t think being at RBR did him any favours with those two ignorant gits in charge .
It slightly annoys me a this - yes, Seb is struggling and his head doesn’t seem quite in the game - but all the “what’s wrong with Vettel” stuff, particularly on Sky Sports, I think does a huge disservice to just how good Leclerc is.
Agree about Le Clerc but Vettel has crumbled. Clearly Vettel is struggling mentally with the downturn in his career and reputation. None of us know the social media comments he has directed at him or how this has put pressure on him. The Italians won't be kind. Vettel needs to go and prove himself elsewhere before taking another F1 drive. Away from this formula he can rebuild his mojo and yes then maybe he will be ready for a comeback. I am going to say this though, I don't think he is the driver he thinks he is. Yes, he is better than me but then I would not even contemplate what he does. There are just too many mistakes for a top driver. He was only good with the RBR, now he has to handle a car without the blown diffuser. He is in the same league as Pastor Maldonaldo.
Leclerc's quality and Vettel's drop off combined all make it look rather rough for Vettel, sadly. It's bloody annoying that Ferrari have dropped the ball with their car, because he needs to be in the mix at the front.
Is it my imagination or does Vettel's performance seem to drop each time he gets a new teammate? If he has someone helping him physiologically then he needs someone new. Maybe a fresh team would help but maybe a break would be better. There seems to be lots of new talent that needs seats to gain experience in the back marker cars not to mention Hulk...
Someone's been on glue, Vettel just declined at he's best he's top 3 driver on the grid easily. Best driver now is Max Verstappen though he is a ****
TBH I think all top drivers are A-Holes, I just think it's part of what makes them such good drivers. Some definitely hide it better than others and Max doesn't hide it at all.
I think there is respect between Lewis and Max. Max is slowly growing on me, till he does a bad thing again. I hope he is learning that his talent speaks for itself and he was trying too hard before.
Like another has said, i didn't like him at Red Bull, spoilt little brat, multi 21 did it for me. I did warm to him initially at Ferrari, came over as more humble. I was being polite to suggest he might get his mojo back, I am doubtful, but maybe there is just a confidence issue. I would like to see him revive his fortunes.