Formula 1: Will Sebastian Vettel keep his momentum going in Monza?

Sebastian Vettel is set to enter the 14th race of the 2018 Formula 1 season, the Italian Grand Prix, with a ton of momentum. Will he keep it going?

The Italian Grand Prix is not the first race of the 2018 Formula 1 season that Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel is set to enter having garnered a ton of momentum from the previous race, and it likely won’t be the last.

However, the four-time Formula 1 champion has yet to truly capitalize on momentum that he have gained by winning races throughout the season. In order for Vettel to have a chance to win this season’s driver championship and for Ferrari to win this season’s constructor championship, he is going to have to start to do that.

Can he do that in this weekend’s race, Ferrari’s home race, the Italian Grand Prix, at the 11-turn, 3.600-mile (5.793-kilometer) Autodromo Nazionale Monza road course in Monza, Italy?

Vettel’s dominant performance in the Belgian Grand Prix, which featured him starting in second place, taking the lead from Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Lewis Hamilton on lap one and leading all 44 laps of the race around the 19-turn, 4.352-mile (7.004-kilometer) Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps road course in Stavelot, Belgium, brought him to within 17 points (231 to 214) of Hamilton for the lead of the driver standings.

As a result, many people believe that given Ferrari’s improvements ahead of and throughout the 2018 season, he has a legitimate chance to challenge Hamilton for this season’s championship.

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But this isn’t the first time we have heard this in 2018, only to have the main question become “how many points will Hamilton win the championship by?” just a week or two later.

Vettel opened up the season by winning the first two races, the Australian Grand Prix and the Bahrain Grand Prix, which made him the early favorite to win the 2018 championship. He dominated the Chinese Grand Prix until his pit strategy did not work out and he was spun out by Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. He also dominated the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but his pit strategy also did not work out, and he flat-spotted one of his tires because of it since he tried to make an overaggressive move to retake the lead. Hamilton and Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo dominated the next two races, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Monaco Grand Prix, respectively.

In the seventh race of the season, the Canadian Grand Prix, Vettel dominated once again, leading every lap of the race en route to his third victory of the season. At this point, it seemed like almost everyone was in agreement that Mercedes’ reign atop Formula 1 had officially come to an end.

But in the following race, the French Grand Prix, it was Hamilton who dominated after Vettel began the race by attempting an overaggressive move to pass Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas for second place heading into turn one, ruining the race for both drivers. Bottas spun out and the cars of both drivers sustained damage.

Hamilton dominated the next race, the Austrian Grand Prix, early on as well before a bad pit strategy cost him track position and he was ultimately forced to retire with a fuel pressure issue.

Vettel dominated the 10th race of the season, the British Grand Prix, after passing Hamilton on the opening lap before going on to win it. He dominated the following race, the German Grand Prix, until he crashed with just 16 laps remaining, at which point he had a massive lead. Hamilton, who was in fourth place when Vettel crashed, ended up winning.

After Vettel’s dominant performance in last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix, more of the same was expected in this year’s edition of the race. While this year’s edition of the race featured a dominant performance, it was put on by Hamilton. Vettel, as referenced above, responded by dominating the Belgian Grand Prix.

It seems like whenever the 31-year-old German picks up some kind of momentum, something happens, whether that be a bad pit strategy, a crash or simply him having an inferior car to Hamilton, that results in him throwing it away and Hamilton outscoring him.

Will the Italian Grand Prix provide a different result following Vettel’s dominant performance in the Belgian Grand Prix, or will the race be another walk in the park for Hamilton like it was last year on Ferrari’s home turf?

One thing is clear: at some point before this season ends, Vettel needs to capitalize on his momentum and string together multiple victories in a row if he wants to have a real shot at beating Hamilton to five career Formula 1 championships. Even though he has dominated several races this season, he has had to prove that he can do that.

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Tune in to ESPN2 at 9:10 a.m. ET on Sunday, September 2 for the live broadcast of the Italian Grand Prix from Autodromo Nazionale Monza to see whether or not Sebastian Vettel can keep his momentum going and possibly continue to chip away at Lewis Hamilton’s lead in the Formula 1 driver standings.

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