Sebastian Vettel’s future at Ferrari is under scrutiny again after another bad race at the Italian Grand Prix.
While teammate Charles Leclerc captured the hearts of the Tifosi by giving the Scuderia their first home win in nine years, the German may well have finished off his relationship after spinning off by himself and finishing a lowly 13th at Monza.
The incredible scenes post-race appeared to represent a changing in the guard moment at Ferrari as the Monegasque was embraced as the new hero.
But some are still not ready to give up on Vettel just yet.
“I am just saying don’t write him off as he is a four-time world champion and the difference between the great and the good is the great ones can get back up again,” Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said via Crash.net.
“I have no doubt that he can do that. He had a spell of bad races and now it will be about the ability to get himself back to where he deserves to be. Today is a bad day for him.”
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Adding his view, ex-Ferrari chief and current F1 motorsport director Ross Brawn did concede Vettel is under pressure because of the impact Leclerc has made
“What happened in the race was down to him alone,” he said in his usual post-GP weekend comments.
“Sebastian made two mistakes on lap seven, spinning and then hitting Stroll and the errors look even worse in light of Leclerc’s double victory in Spa and Monza.
“It’s an unavoidable fact that no matter who the driver is and regardless of how good things are in the team, your first rival is always your teammate.
“To a certain extent, Sebastian is experiencing what he felt at Red Bull in his final year there, in 2014, when he found himself up against Daniel Ricciardo, a youngster setting the incredible pace.”
However, he too does think the 32-year-old can overcome with some help from his team.
“Vettel is clearly one of the greats of our sport, but at this tough time he really needs the support of the team to regain the confidence he seems to be lacking at the moment,” he noted.
“That, as well as pushing on with the car development, has to be a priority for [team boss] Mattia Binotto in the coming weeks.
“It won’t be easy, but it is essential especially in terms of 2020.”
Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri put his confidence in Vettel, saying he “fully trusts that he will return to the top” once again.
But it is getting increasingly difficult to see how he regains his previous status within the Maranello-based operation and particularly regains the trust of the Tifosi.
Remember, at the start of the decade with Red Bull, Seb would arrive at Monza to much the same reception as Lewis Hamilton currently gets having deprived Fernando Alonso the world title twice.
He managed to win them on side with quick success at Ferrari in 2015, but his recent shortcomings in battles with Hamilton raised questions on if he could get the job done.
And now in Leclerc, Ferrari may have that driver in a year or two and he has every Tifosi member right behind him.
The Italian media has rarely been kind to Vettel too, suggesting the was “retired” by Leclerc at Monza, still, he remains defiant that he can strike back.
“The speed is there so I am not worried,” he told the BBC. “It is just a matter of putting things together.
“On my side, I am not happy, certainly not with how it went with that spin.
“After that, the race was pretty much lost from there but at least the team was still going and after it was close with Kimi [Raikkonen] last year, this time at least Charles sealed the win.”