Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel’s habitual choking continues in Canada

Whether or not the penalty handed to Sebastian Vettel in the Canadian Grand Prix was fair does not change the fact that his habitual choking under pressure in Formula 1 continued.

Over the last few Formula 1 seasons, especially since last season, Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has gained the reputation of a “choker”.

His plethora of unforced errors, the points that he has lost as a result of his unforced errors and the points that chief championship rival Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport has gained as a result of his unforced errors are the difference between Vettel being a six-time champion and Hamilton being a three-time champion as opposed to Vettel being a four-time champion and Hamilton being a five-time champion, the latter of which being the case.

On lap 48 of the 70-lap Canadian Grand Prix around the 14-turn, 2.71-mile (4.361-kilometer) Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course on Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Vettel, who had been leading the race defending well against a hard-charging Hamilton in second place, went off the track between turns three and four.

Vettel rejoined the track just ahead of Hamilton, and with nowhere else to go to avoid hitting the wall himself, he caused Hamilton to check up to avoid hitting the wall.

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After a lengthy investigation by the race stewards, Vettel was issued a five-second time penalty that effectively handed the victory to Hamilton. Vettel was officially scored in second place despite the fact that he crossed the finish line in the race lead 1.342 seconds ahead of Hamilton in second.

The debate about whether or not this penalty was fair will rage on for quite some time, although at this point, it seems pretty one-sided, as the majority of fans, even Mercedes/Hamilton fans, believe that the penalty was ridiculous and that Vettel won the race, and justifiably so.

But whether or not this penalty was fair does not change the fact that Vettel, once again, caved in under pressure.

While this most recent instance of Vettel letting the pressure get the best of him was not like what happened in the Bahrain Grand Prix earlier this season when he spun out just as Hamilton had passed him for second place, as Hamilton wasn’t making a move on him at the time in yesterday’s race, it was still yet another instance of him letting what should have been a victory get away from him via an unforced error.

In a way, Vettel’s error in Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix was similar to his late crash in last year’s German Grand Prix when he seemed to have the race won with a massive lead and just 16 of the race’s 67 laps remaining but crashed. As close as Hamilton was to passing him in yesterday’s race, he clearly did not have enough what it took to overtake him, particularly because of his struggles in the turn 10 hairpin.

Sure, Vettel didn’t lose the lead as a result of his off-track excursion in the Canadian Grand Prix, but it was his mistake that ultimately resulted in him being the issued the penalty, fair or unfair, that cost him the victory. Had he not caved under pressure, he would have won the race without controversy.

The race stewards may have cost Sebastian Vettel what would have been his first victory of the 2019 Formula 1 season in the Canadian Grand Prix, but it was Vettel who put them in position to make that decision via yet another unforced error to add to his lengthy list of unforced errors over the last few seasons.