Formula 1 Director of Motorsports Ross Brawn says Ferrari has to “work out” how to help Sebastian Vettel maximise his talent, amid the German’s sequence of mistakes.
Vettel went toe-to-toe with Lewis Hamilton for the 2018 title through the opening half of the campaign, taking four wins, but has challenge has since collapsed.
The German has won just one of the past eight Grands Prix, a sequence of races which has included crashing out in Germany and spinning in close battles with rivals in Italy, Japan and the United States.
The Four-time champion is now 70 points behind Hamilton and must win all of the remaining three Grands Prix to stand even the remotest chance of overhauling his opponent.
Vettel’s latest in-race spin came in the wake of a grid penalty sustained for a red flag offence in practice.
His team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, went on to end his own five-year win drought in the sister car.
“On a weekend on which Kimi demonstrated that the Ferrari was once again really quick, the other side of the coin is represented by Sebastian, who was again no stranger to mistakes,” said Brawn.
“On Friday there was a small one, when he failed to slow sufficiently for red flags, and he paid the price with a three-place penalty.
“Then, in the race, he yet again collided with a Red Bull, this time [Daniel] Ricciardo’s, and once again Vettel came off worst.
“It was another lost opportunity to close the gap in the title fight, especially when we saw what Räikkönen did with the same car.
“I certainly don’t want to put Vettel in the dock, but these incidents can no longer be seen as coincidence, but rather they would seem to indicate that Sebastian is a bit out of sorts at the moment.”
Brawn stresses that Vettel “has not forgotten how to win” and that Ferrari management must unlock the ability of a driver who has taken four titles in Formula 1.
“It’s a shame because this year, the Maranello team has been able to give him a really competitive car right – right from the start of the season,” said Brawn, who spearheaded Ferrari’s technical team through its dominant period in the early 2000s.
“Since the start of the hybrid era, Mercedes has never faced such stiff opposition and has never had to push development as much as it has this year.
“That’s down to the men and women who work at Ferrari and obviously, that includes the drivers.
“Now, any hope of bringing the Drivers’ title back to Maranello is dwindling and the time has come to do the maths.
“Their most important task is to work out how to help Vettel make the most of his massive talent.
“You don’t become a four-time World Champion for no reason and Sebastian has definitely not forgotten how to win.
“In a sport as complicated as Formula 1, you only reach your goals if all the pieces of the jigsaw fall into place. If just one piece is missing everything is compromised.”
