UNSTOPPABLE
Mercedes ace on the verge of fifth world title after another Vettel blunder hands him victory
IT IS a measure of Lewis Hamilton’s total mastery of the track that Sebastian Vettel has been reduced to the type of self-damaging, gung-ho gamble that practically gift-wrapped the world title for the Briton here yesterday.
Eight laps in, Vettel tried to force his Ferrari inside Max Verstappen’s Red Bull at the left-handed Spoon curve, and crashed. He fought back to finish sixth. But the mistake reflected precisely the predicament weighing on Vettel’s shoulders.
Simply, he cannot match Hamilton, who is 67 points ahead of his Ferrari rival and can secure a fifth world title in two weeks’ time by winning the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, and provided the German finishes worse than second.
Yesterday’s blunder was Vettel’s seventh error of the season. He has lost 75 points to Hamilton in the last seven races.
What made this latest, spark inducing error all the stranger was that Vettel would have passed Verstappen in the pits because the Dutchman had a five-second penalty to serve for an earlier indiscretion. But for the crash, Vettel, who started eighth after a strategic miscalculation by his team and then one by himself in qualifying, would likely have finished third. He now trails the champion by 67 points.
Vettel defended his decision to take on Verstappen as they decelerated from 190mph into Spoon. ‘I would do the same again,’ he said. ‘Don’t put me down as arrogant, but the gap was there. I don’t think there was anything wrong with trying.
‘How many times can you afford to wait? I am racing not just him, but the guys in front. I had similar encounters with others and we managed to make it into the corner. It is not the prime overtaking spot, but if you are side-by-side then it is fair. I did my best to try to avoid contact, but if he keeps closing, where I am supposed to go?’
Verstappen did not see it that way, suggesting Vettel was fortunate to escape punishment. Vettel’s eyes betrayed his wider problem — that of a four-time world champion being exposed as mortal — as he spoke in the paddock afterwards.
The mood in the Mercedes team was one of restrained jubilation. Nobody wanted to celebrate too hard before the job is complete. But after the team orders debate of last week, when Valtteri Bottas was moved aside so Hamilton would win in Russia, it was at least a straightforward one-two to hail without any internal conflicts.
Hamilton finished 12.9 seconds ahead of Bottas. Verstappen, whose car was largely unscathed in the Vettel collision but for a slightly damaged floor, came third. Daniel Ricciardo fourth and Kimi Raikkonen fifth.
Hamilton’s smooth victory was his sixth in seven races, equalling his best ever streak from 2014. Further, he topped each practice session and qualifying.
And now on to America, where Hamilton has won for the last four seasons. If he does so again, the Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi grands prix are likely to be victory laps.
A word of support for Vettel: prior to his mistake, he had zipped impressively from eighth to fourth on the first lap, including a fine move on Romain Grosjean. A safety car soon came out after Charles Leclerc went into the back of Kevin Magnussen. Moments later came Vettel’s revealing mistake.
He finally registered the fastest lap, but it was cold comfort on an afternoon that presaged Hamilton’s imminent confirmation, as Vettel knew most brutally, as the supreme champion of his era.