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Time is running out for Vettel: 'Then the hope is completely gone'.

Time is running out for Vettel: 'Then the hope is completely gone'.

05-04-2021 09:04 Last update: 10:51
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GPblog.com

Sebastian Vettel hoped to start with a clean sheet at Aston Martin, but with his typical crash in Bahrain, there is a lot of pressure on his shoulders again. Something the German is not a fan of.

Vettel drove into the back of Esteban Ocon during the Bahrain Grand Prix, and those who have been following Formula 1 in recent years got a sense of déjà vu. Vettel has been involved in such incidents more than once in recent years, which is why I wrote in my recent column that you can no longer see this as an incident. Edd Straw also has his doubts in his column for The Race.

Pressure at Red Bull

''It's the kind of mistake Vettel makes time and time again, and which you hoped would go away after his departure from Ferrari. It's a mistake that has been linked to Vettel in recent years, with it even happening when Ricciardo labelled his crash with Carlos Sainz at Silverstone in 2020 as a 'Seb spin'. The hope was that this would disappear at Aston Martin, to see the old Vettel back there,'' said the Formula One journalist.

''At Red Bull, Vettel was kept on a short leash. His biggest weakness is that he sometimes gets a red haze in front of his eyes in the cockpit, but that was tamed very well there from the pit wall. Guillaume Rocquelin, his race engineer at Red Bull, played a crucial role there to keep him on track.''

Will Vettel return?

Since his departure from Red Bull Racing, however, those peaks and valleys have become much more apparent. At Ferrari, he alternated great performances with huge blunders. Think of the start crash in Singapore, the clash with Verstappen in Japan and England, but also his slide in Germany. Will this now continue at Aston Martin?

''At his best Vettel is great, but on the other hand he can also struggle a lot and make a lot of mistakes. How competitive Aston Martin is will be essential Vettel's year. If Aston Martin is not competitive and Vettel has a bad year then any hope of him ever showing that he can fight his way back as a top driver in Formula 1 is gone'', Straw concluded.