Seven key errors that have cost Vettel

There’s a parallel in Formula 1 too, as Ferrari unravels before our very eyes. Sebastian Vettel increasingly carries the look of a beaten man.

This is the same guy who swept to four consecutive world titles with Red Bull with an assurance that often crossed into (fully justified) arrogance. But now, like Mourinho’s glory days at Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, it’s all a fading memory. And what makes this downfall all the more remarkable is that it has been so rapid.

Just six weeks ago the 31-year-old scored a fantastic signature victory in Belgium, just as he had in Australia, Bahrain, Canada and Britain earlier this season.

Vettel is not suddenly a bad racing driver, just as Mourinho hasn’t suddenly lost the ability to manage football teams. But in sport, fortunes turn in a blink: momentum evaporates, confidence slips away and hard-won gains are quickly overturned.

So it is for Mourinho and Vettel. For both, you sense something big must change. The Portuguese probably needs to go, for his own sake as much as United’s. But Vettel doesn’t have that option in F1. Instead, an overhaul is needed around him – an injection of leadership so clearly lacking.

But in the wake of Sergio Marchionne’s shock death in the summer, who at Ferrari has the experience and conviction to trigger what’s required? The team has built the fastest F1 car this year (or at least it was), but lacks the competence to make the most of it – and judging by the astonishing amount of errors he has made this year, the burden that deficiency has had on Vettel has taken its toll.

He’s cracked. And to be fair, no wonder.

1 Azerbaijan: the first flat-spot

Wins in two of the first three races earned Vettel a deserved points lead and he looked comfortable on the Baku streets – until a characteristic clanger from the Ferrari pitwall cost him his lead.

Still, when Valterri Bottas lost certain victory with a puncture three laps from the flag, Seb should have been there to inherit what the team had cost him. But he wasn’t – and that ultimately was down to him.

A big lock-up and delay while challenging Bottas for the lead caused a significant tyre flat-spot. He couldn’t even stop Sergio Perez’s Force India bouncing him off the podium.

Hamilton was almost embarrassed he’d won, jumping into a four-point championship lead he probably didn’t deserve.

2 France: clumsy instead of cool

Dominance in Montreal had lifted Vettel back into a one-point title lead, but where once he would have pressed home his advantage, he now undid all that great work.

Mercedes had the edge at Paul Ricard, but instead of playing the long game, Vettel showed his impetuous streak. A clumsy collision with Bottas at Turn 1 dropped him down the order  – and gifted Hamilton a returned points lead.

A needless mistake for a man of such experience.

3 Austria: a costly penalty

To reignite the football analogy, Vettel’s three-place grid penalty for impeding Carlos Sainz in qualifying was the equivalent of a defender tripping a forward who has his back to goal.

Without that penalty, Vettel would probably have won at the Red Bull-Ring, following a race in which Ferrari also showcased its change in character when it comes to team orders. Where once we castigated it for a policy of blatant interference, now we wonder why it chooses to go Lassiez-faire with so much at stake.

Vettel did leave Austria with his points lead back, following a rare Hamilton retirement. But his gains should have been greater.

 4 Germany: humiliation at home

As an image of his season, Vettel crumpled in despair as he walked away from his beached Ferrari couldn’t be more striking. Of all his errors this year, this was probably the worst – but also the most forgivable.

It was a tiny error in tricky conditions that caused him to skate off at the low-speed Sachs Kurve and pathetically nose into an advertising hoarding. Hamilton’s contrasting brilliance, rising from 14^th to win, only accentuated the German’s anguish.

The championship swing, from an eight-point lead to a 17-point deficit, was critical. Hamilton hasn’t been headed since.

5 Hungary: no appetite in the wet

For all his mistakes, Vettel is rarely underwhelming in the cockpit – but that would be the best description for his performance in Q3 on Saturday in Budapest.

Ferrari had a clear advantage in the dry, but in a wet climax to qualifying Vettel just wasn’t at the races. It clearly shook him, too.

6 Italy: amateur dramatics

Utter dominance at Spa proved Ferrari’s power advantage once and for all, and surely the same would be the case at Monza. But again, all the great work was undone.

Ferrari’s lack of management on Saturday was surprising as Kimi Räikkönen took an unlikely pole. Compromised by Kimi at the start, Vettel looked naïve when Hamilton went round him at the first chicane – especially when the Ferrari spiralled after tagging the Mercedes.

Relegated to another recovery drive, Vettel could only watch as Hamilton brilliantly mugged the reds in their own backyard. Painful.

7 Japan: desperate measures

The defeats in Singapore and Russia appear to have drained Vettel and Ferrari of any punch, and events at Suzuka this past weekend have possibly ended their challenge once and for all – if not yet mathematically.

There were more tactical mistakes in qualifying, and then on Sunday Vettel went for a half-gap at a corner not recognised for overtaking, against one of F1’s most aggressive drivers.

Seb’s defence – that opportunities would have been few and far between, that there was a clear gap at Spoon down the inside of Max Verstappen – are all very well. But it smacked of desperation from a man drained of belief. You almost had to feel sorry for him.

Can he and Ferrari recover? Like Mourinho and United, it’s still possible, but unlikely – and something has to give.

What’s more intriguing is how these heavyweight characters will emerge from the toughest challenges of their professional lives. In the light of a harsh sporting world, their reactions might very well define them.

Photography courtesy of Motorsport Images