Vettel wishes he could ask Schumacher for advice in 2018 title fight

Sebastian Vettel wishes that he could ask Michael Schumacher for advice as his title fight with Lewis Hamilton for a fifth world championship looks to be slipping away from him. Vettel has committed a category of errors that have effectively lost him the championship lead to an arguably inferior car in the Mercedes W09.

Schumacher famously helped build the Ferrari team around him from 1996 onwards, going on to win a record seven world championships, five of which were with the Prancing Horse.

Vettel said that he thought Schumacher's experience with the team would help him rebuild his season and start a fightback against his title rival.

“If he was healthy, I would ask him about many things,” Vettel told Sport Bild.

“Not necessarily how to drive, but more things that are behind the scenes. Teamwork, Formula 1 politics. He has a lot of experience from his time with Ferrari.”

Schumacher's longtime rival Mika Hakkinen agreed that Schumacher may have been able to offer the advice Vettel needed as his championship fight begins to strain.

“I have seen that Sebastian has said he wishes he had Michael Schumacher available to ask for advice, and I can understand why,” Hakkinen said in his Unibet column.

“Working very closely with the management and senior technical staff, Michael knew how to help get the most out of the Ferrari team.

“And it looks like Vettel has lost some faith in the team to provide him with the necessary support.”