Vettel's Belgian blunder

Vettel under pressure

You could argue that Sebastian Vettel would be the current reigning World Champion had he made fewer mistakes during the 2009 season. He lost points through driving errors in Australia, Monaco, Turkey, Hungary, and Singapore, and when you combine those with his poor strategy during qualifying at Brazil, and the failure to defend his position from Jenson Button in Bahrain, it’s clear that Sebastian fell a long way short of his potential.

Vettel finished the year just 11 points behind the eventual champion, a gap that he could’ve easily bridged with fewer errors.

The 23 year old now risks the same fate in 2010 after an amateur mistake on Sunday afternoon cost him dearly.

Battle at the Bus Stop

Vettel crashed into Jenson Button on lap 16 of the Belgian Grand Prix whilst racing for second place.

Button was struggling with a broken front wing and was fighting hard to keep the faster Red Bull behind. When Vettel got close approaching the Bus Stop chicane, Jenson defended his position by sticking to the inside line. Unable to find a way past, Sebastian jinked left, but did so with such violence that he lost control of the Red bull and snapped sideways into Button’s left radiator. The McLaren’s cooling system emptied in seconds and was unable to continue.

Vettel lost his front wing in the impact and was lucky not to suffer any further damage. He was also lucky that the incident occurred directly before the pitlane entrance so he didn't have far to travel with a damaged car.

Sebastian later earned a drive-through penalty for his actions, but made another mistake on lap 25 when he tagged Tonio Liuzzi at the chicane. This time Vettel got a puncture and his hopes of scoring points were over. Although Liuzzi must shoulder some of the blame for the incident, Sebastian could have given Tonio more room and would not have suffered any damage had he done so.

The pressure increases

It is the third major result haul that Vettel has recently thrown away with a careless mistake. He displayed similarly poor racecraft when trying to overtake Mark Webber in Turkey, and made a meal of the Safety Car restart in Hungary. Given that he already lost two wins through technical problems, these are the sorts of dramas that Vettel can ill afford.

Should Sebastian have more bad luck in Monza, he may soon find himself put into the incredible position of being forced to help Mark Webber in the championship.

Learning from your mistakes

It’s important for Vettel that he turns every bad result into a learning experience and this may currently be a weakness for the young German. He refused to accept any blame for the collision with Webber in Turkey and he can’t learn from his mistakes if he fails to admit them in the first place.

Vettel is very young and will surely mature in the years ahead. He is still a major contender for the 2010 World Championship, but like many others, may be left to rue what might have been.

Posted by Martin Porter. - Follow him on twitter @mpondaweb.

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Last Comment Posted »

• Just wondering if somewher in the VERY talented Herr Vettel's bloodline might be a Sgt Schultz charcater???
  by norm porter
  [ click here to read in full ]