Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel approaching important races like a video game

In important races so far in the 2018 Formula 1, Sebastian Vettel has seemingly approached them as though he is playing a video game.

With seven races remaining on the 21-race 2018 Formula 1 season, four-time Formula champion Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport leads fellow four-time champion Sebastian Vettel of Scuderia Ferrari by 30 points (256 to 226) in the driver standings.

But given the fact that Ferrari have had faster cars than Mercedes in more races than Mercedes have had faster cars than Ferrari through the first 14 races of this season, why is this the case?

This is the case because it seems like once Vettel starts to get on a roll, he hinders himself with his own mistakes. It is almost like he has approached races that could result in him being given a huge championship boost as though he is playing a video game, and this has cost him in an extremely negative way.

There are four notable instances during which this has been the case so far this year. The first of these instances took place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the fourth race of the season. Vettel entered the race with a nine-point lead in the driver standings over Hamilton after winning two of the season’s first three races.

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With only a handful of laps to go, Vettel, who had dominated the race, was running in second place behind Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas. Vettel tried to pass him by making an overaggressive move, and it resulted in him flat spotting his tires and losing several positions.

Meanwhile, Bottas went on to experience a flat tire with less than three laps to go, meaning Vettel would have been in a prime position to win the race had he not made such an overaggressive move. Vettel finished in fourth place while Hamilton earned the victory and took the lead in the driver standings as a result of it.

Vettel’s mistake seems like the kind of mistake that would be made by an amateur video game player on F1 2018, likely with damage turned off. With a few laps remaining in the race and running in second place, why not shoot up the inside and try to make a move for the lead that would never — very rarely at best — work in real life?

A similar incident took place in the French Grand Prix, except it took place at the start of the race. Vettel entered the race with a one-point lead in the driver standings having just dominated the Canadian Grand Prix. He got too aggressive going into turn one at the start while trying to pass Bottas for second and spun him out, ruining the race for both drivers.

The third of these instances took place in the German Grand Prix, the 11th race of the season. Vettel entered the race having just dominated the British Grand Prix, Hamilton’s home race. He led Hamilton by eight points in the driver standings and appeared to be well on his way to extending his lead in the standings by dominating his own home race as well.

With 16 laps to go in the race, Vettel had a comfortable lead and Hamilton was running in fourth place, meaning that the 31-year-old German was set to extend his lead in the driver standings by an additional 13 points to 21 points over the 33-year-old Briton heading into the Hungarian Grand Prix, a race that Vettel dominated last season.

But Vettel crashed, which is something that someone playing F1 2018 might do if they accidentally drop the controller or sneeze or something before offsetting the crash with a flashback.

As Vettel found out, his race could not be salvaged by a flashback. Instead, Hamilton used the ensuing safety car period to his advantage to take the race win, meaning that Vettel’s crash caused a 38-point swing in favor of the Mercedes driver.

Finally (but maybe not really “finally”), the fourth of these instances took place in the Italian Grand Prix. Vettel entered the race having just dominated the Belgian Grand Prix after taking the lead from race polesitter Hamilton on the first lap and never looking back. He trailed Hamilton by 24 points coming into the race and exited it trailing him by just 17 points.

Vettel was the heavy favorite to win the Italian Grand Prix, as Ferrari clearly had the fastest cars for their home race. He and teammate Kimi Raikkonen locked out the front row on the starting grid with Raikkonen on the pole and Vettel in second place.

On the first lap of the race, Hamilton, who started in third place, tried to pass Vettel by going to his outside in turn four of the track. Like someone who might be trying to compete in an F1 2018 race on a difficulty level above that which they can handle, Vettel, who had enough room to maneuver around the corner, made contact with the side of Hamilton’s car and spun himself out.

Unfortunately for Vettel, he did not have the option to exit to the main menu, edit his difficulty settings and restart the race.

It is clear that Vettel, not Hamilton, should be leading the driver standings right now given the fact that he has generally been faster than his rival through the first 14 races of the year. But this is the 2018 Formula 1 season, not the F1 2018 video game.

Do you believe that Sebastian Vettel needs to change his approach to races in which he has the potential to build on his momentum throughout the remainder of the 2018 Formula 1 season? Do you believe that he still has a chance to win this year’s championship?