Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel’s only true rival is himself

Sebastian Vettel has only one true rival in Formula 1, and over the last few seasons, that lone true rival has become none other than himself.

During the four Formula 1 seasons from 2015 through 2018 when four-time champion Sebastian Vettel and 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen were teammates at Scuderia Ferrari, Vettel was the clear prioritized driver, and in many cases, justifiably so.

The 31-year-old German won 13 races during these four years while the 39-year-old Finn won only one race. Vettel took 10 pole positions during this stint while Raikkonen took just two.

There was an ongoing joke, especially during the 2017 and 2018 seasons when Ferrari emerged as a true threat to Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport in the constructor standings, that the two biggest rivalries in the sport were Vettel vs. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Raikkonen vs. Ferrari due to the priority placed on Vettel by the Italian team.

Now it can be argued that the sport’s biggest rivalry is Vettel vs. Vettel.

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Over the last few seasons, Vettel has made almost too many unforced errors to count, and he has cost himself dearly in the driver standings, especially relative to Hamilton, and this has prevented him from being a five-time champion or even a six-time champion. Meanwhile, it has allowed Hamilton to become a five-time champion.

If you give Vettel the points that he would have earned had he not been involved in these unforced incidents and you take away the points that Hamilton earned as a result of the fact that he was, Vettel would be the 2018 champion.

In fact, the same can be said about the 2017 season, as while Vettel made fewer errors, he finished much closer to Hamilton in the driver standings than he did in the 2018 season.

Vettel finished 46 points (363 to 317) behind Hamilton in the 2017 standings and 88 points (408 to 320) behind him in the 2018 standings. He finished in second place behind the 34-year-old Briton in both seasons.

The 2019 season is the first season during which former Ferrari Driver Academy member Charles Leclerc has driven for the Prancing Horse, as he was announced as Raikkonen’s replacement beginning this season during the second half of last season.

Vettel has maintained his status as Ferrari’s top driver, at least in Ferrari’s eyes, yet he trails Leclerc in the driver standings by four points (26 to 22). Leclerc sits in fourth place while Vettel sits in fifth.

In the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Ferrari ordered a much faster Leclerc to hold his position in fifth place behind Vettel in fourth. After relinquishing the lead in the season’s second race, the Bahrain Grand Prix, to Vettel from the pole position at the start, Ferrari ordered Leclerc to stay behind his teammate once again, an order that Leclerc defied.

The 21-year-old Monegasque went on to dominate the race before an engine issue relegated him to a third place finish behind Mercedes teammates Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. Vettel, meanwhile, lost his chance of a top two finish and perhaps even a victory by spinning out, something he has grown accustomed to over the last few seasons. He ended up finishing in fifth.

With Leclerc’s engine issue having prevented him from opening up a sizable margin over Vettel in the driver standings, it is unlikely that Ferrari will give him priority over the veteran so soon. That said, Vettel needs to step it up immediately to prevent that from happening, because he is certainly not immune to it.

Right now, Vettel’s only true rival is himself. While he can say whatever he wants about not caving to the pressure of competing against Hamilton and competing against his new teammate and Hamilton can “defend” him by saying there are “too few” spins to base his mistakes on — even though he has now made seven major unforced errors in the last 19 races, including five spins — the fact is, the only person who is standing in Vettel’s way of winning a fifth Formula 1 championship is the man he sees when he looks in the mirror.

Like it or not, Sebastian Vettel still has Ferrari on his side, and in multiple ways. He had a car that was more than capable of winning last year’s Formula 1 championship and the 2017 championship to boot, and he had the priority over Kimi Raikkonen to win the championships in both of those seasons.

He has a car this season that appears to be capable of the same, and despite Charles Leclerc’s clear superiority over him through the season’s first two races, he still has the priority over the young gun to do it.

But time is running out, and as the clock continues to tick on his window to win a fifth championship, Vettel is his own worst enemy and will continue to be unless he can drastically cut down on his unforced mistakes.