As Formula One goes into its summer break, one driver in particular needs to take time to reflect on a season that so far, by his standards, has been an unmitigated disaster.
After four consecutive world titles and a period of total domination, Sebastian Vettel has disappeared off the radar. To make matters worse he has been overshadowed by his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo who before this season started was talking about how he was hoping to learn from the world champion after moving from Toro Rosso. Ironic, to say the least.
At that stage nobody would have imagined that Vettel would go from hero to also-ran while Ricciardo went in the other direction with two brilliant wins in Canada and Hungary.
The ever smiling Australian is overflowing with confidence and you wouldn’t rule out more wins as he gets the best out of his Red Bull which, after early season problems with its Renault engine, appears to be getting faster.
In contrast, after 11 races this season, Vettel, who has had more retirements this year than in the past three years put together, has zero wins and just two third places to his name. At the same stage last season he had five wins, one second place and two third places.
The frustration is clear to see as he struggles with what appears to be a succession of problems with his car. Yes, he has had some bad luck, Renault’s new engine has been poor and maybe his driving style doesn’t suit the new set-up but, whichever way you look at it, his reputation is on the line.
All the teams, with the exception of Mercedes, have had problems with downsizing from the 2.4 litre V8 engines to the 1.5 twin turbo V6 hybrid units which now power the cars but Vettel seems to be suffering more than most and kissed goodbye to his title months ago.
Ricciardo is obviously a talented driver and is currently doing a much better job than Vettel’s last team-mate Mark Webber but let’s be honest, he shouldn’t be leaving a four-time world champion considered to be up there with the legends of the sport in his wake, particularly as he is driving the same car.
Vettel may smile and say he is pleased for his team-mate like he did after Ricciardo won last Sunday’s race in Budapest but you can be sure that he will be hurting. The German is a natural born winner and as such the frustration of this season so far will be almost unbearable, particularly as people are now asking why, if Ricciardo can win races, he can’t.
In contrast to the last four seasons, Vettel hasn’t secured a single pole and so has had to fight for position from within the pack and this is where fingers will be pointed.
It has been said before that Vettel is brilliant leading from the front but in a close-encounter situation with other cars around him he is not so hot which is why he may be struggling now.
The complexity of Formula One means there is no obvious reason or answer to Vettel’s problems but because of his current situation there has been inevitable speculation that he is now looking for a move to another team, but even if that was true he would surely not want to leave Red Bull on a low after such a glorious reign there.
Domination in any sport can’t go on forever but the severity of his fall has been alarming. As a world champion he must now dig in and respond to what is becoming the biggest challenge of his career.
He can’t afford to just write this season off. He has to grab the Bull by the horns and show why he has four world titles to his name because if Ricciardo continues to leave him behind, serious questions will start to be asked.
