Sympathy for the Vettel

Please allow me to introduce myself

I'm a man of speed and grace

I've been around for a long, long year

Stole many a point with my pace

And I was 'round when Kate's dirty sister

Had her glory moment in the rain

Made damn sure that Red Bull

Got their first win that race

Pleased to meet you

Hope you guess my name

But what's puzzling you

Is the nature of my game

OK, so the lyrics don't completely scan well if you try to sing along but once I got the title for this weeks blog in my head, there was only one way I was starting it!

Yes Seb, we are a bit puzzled by the nature of your game.

Anyone new to the sport will be forgiven for not realizing who this bearded guy is that is trundling around the mid to back of the field in the Aston Martin.  

Someone that did not seem able to pass Stroll of all people last weekend in the French GP.

So, for the benefit of bringing those folk up to speed, and for anyone who just wants reminding, let's have a quick round of SapStats. 

Reminder - The listener made jingle challenge is open by the way! Get those #SapStatJingles into us and we'll play them.

Vettel entered the world of F1 back in 2007 and has raced for BMW Sauber, Torro Rosso, Red Bull, Ferrari, and Aston Martin.  

He had a tradition of naming his cars hence the reference in the altered lyrics above (although not 100% that was the name of the car at the Chinese GP but it kinda fit the lyrics better!).

At Torro Rosso he became the youngest driver to win an F1 race at the 2008 Italian GP.

Time for some sponsors Seb?

His time at Red Bull was his most fruitful where he was crowned champion four times.  

I won't go over all of his career accomplishments but here a few worth calling out:

• Youngest ever F1 champion
• Most poles in a season
• Nine race wins in a row
• 290 races
• 53 Wins
• 57 Poles
• FOUR consecutive Drivers World Championships (2010-2013)

Learn to count to four, Ah! Ah! Ah!

His Ferrari years never quite lived up to the hope the Tifosi had when he moved there (Sound familiar Charles?) and while there were many close run championships he never managed to add to his Red Bull titles.  

Maybe one of his most memorable moments at Ferrari was the swapping of the number 1 & number 2 signs in front of his and Hamilton's car after he got, what he considered an unfair, a penalty for unsafely returning to the track.

Sign of the times

Aston was always going to be a hard gig and while he has won points and claimed a podium it's never felt like he's had a car capable of really challenging underneath him.

It's also felt like that spark to want to try and push that car might have gone out as well.

Which bring us bang up to date.

So what is in Seb's future and will that future see him in an F1 car next year?

Many people feel that Seb's seat at Aston could be the spark that lights the fuse of silly season.

A silly meme for silly season

He has many other passions outside the world of F1 involving the environment as well as social justice issues, not to mention the fact he is a family man with a wife and kids.  It's hardly the type of sport that has you home every weekend, and especially now as the calendar grows,

He comes across as an intelligent, articulate individual who will throw all of his passion and energy behind these causes and seek that extra time with the family.

So, is there still room for the drive and determination needed to push cars around a track fast?

Most speculation involves him not continuing beyond the current season and that he will not seek another drive and simply retire from the sport.  This would mean a seat opens up and all manner of dominos might start to fall.

Who might get his seat?

On one hand they have Hulkenburg as an option.  They may see that another "elder statesman" of the sport is the way to go rather than look to bring a prospect in.  He might bring that mentor type role to Stroll in the same way folk see Bottas and Magnussen performing that role to the younger drivers of their respective teams.

There was talk of Gasly but Alpha Tauri have since announced him as a driver for next year already.

Talking of the elder drivers on the grid, Alonso may not retain his seat at Alpine as they have a big call to make surrounding their up and coming prospect, Piastri.

Piastri - Nice with cream and a coffee

Alpine need to make a decision on his future and it seems the only options beyond losing him altogether are to either promote him to a seat or loan him to Williams for a year.

Could we see Alonso sticking around one more year by moving to Aston in turn allowing Alpine to promote Piastri?

Now, if Aston decided that Stroll was to become the number one driver in the team then that might see Aston seek out a youngster or a less high profile driver for the second seat.

They could set their sights on Piastri although that might be a harder pursuit. 

Giovinazzi has been out of an F1 seat and has been playing his trade in the Formula E series and might be keen for a return.

All of this talk is great and helps create conversation but it also makes me feel sorry for Vettel.

The conversation is all around filling his empty seat and it feels like he is being allowed to slowly slip out the back door of F1.

Nothing to see here...

Which I think is a real shame.

He has been a great champion and a brilliant driver however he never seems to come up in conversations the same way as Hamilton, Alonso, or even Schumacher.

Maybe I'm missing all the love for Seb but it seems that during his career the Red Bull dominance was used as a way to in someway diminish his achievements, at Ferrari he was painted as a flop (and we all know how hard it seems to be to make it a success over there), and now his off-track interests get all the column inches.

For me Seb deserves his place among the F1 elite and I hope that if he does leave F1 that we see him being regarded as one of the greatest in the sport.

Just to ensure the ear-worm takes hold, I'll leave you on this*...

So if you meet him

Have some courtesy

Have some sympathy, and some taste

Use all your well-learned politeness

Or I'll lay your soul to waste, mm yeah

*If this is showing my age and you have no idea what this is then shame on you and go and listen to Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones.  Now.