Johnny Herbert: Sebastian Vettel's mistake might just have cost him world title

Crash, bang, exit: Sebastian Vettel (No5) takes out Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen
Lars Baron/Getty Images
Johnny Herbert30 September 2017

Singapore was, plain and simple, a huge cock-up for Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari. Sebastian’s move, which took himself, Max Verstappen and Kimi Raikkonen out of the race, could prove the most pivotal moment in this year’s world championship.

You could see it on the German’s face in the TV interviews afterwards: he knew how costly what he had done was, and I think he would have been very honest about that with his team afterwards.

I’ve heard people saying that he deserved a penalty for dangerous driving, but what bigger penalty could there be than both Ferraris retiring from the race and the championship advantage swinging so dramatically towards Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes?

And what would the penalty be for? The finger of blame is being pointed at Sebastian and, if you were apportioning blame, sure, it would be on his shoulders. But why do we need to dish out blame? This was racing: you take risks and sometimes they don’t pay off. That’s what materialised in Singapore and, in truth, everyone watching loved it.

It got people talking, got people excited in the sport and was a flashpoint in an otherwise pretty dull race.

Regardless of what other people have said, Sebastian wouldn’t have had a clue that Kimi was there on his inside. OK, his start wasn’t great, so the thought in his head might have been that someone else might be pushing past Max.

He knew Max was there and what he did was a very risky move. But Max will always be aggressive and so will Sebastian: no-one was going to give way and, bang, that was that.

But these drivers have a split second to make their decision — and that’s the decision he made. He’s had nearly two weeks to think long and hard about it and, in hindsight, he probably would have done things differently.

It’s been suggested that Sebastian is scared of Max, but what utter nonsense. If he was, he wouldn’t have done that. But with already a bit of beef between them, it adds another nice frisson to that relationship.

Max said Sebastian’s actions were not befitting of someone chasing a championship title — but Vettel’s a racer and wants to win every race.

He has done that type of move before — in fact, it reminded me of Michael Schumacher. What he did is not against the rules — you can make one move and he did that. Sure, it was on the limit, but isn’t that racing? Nine times out of 10, it might have worked for him.

It throws up a wider point in this ongoing title fight. Lewis wants to win by being the quickest driver, but not in the same cut-throat manner that Sebastian would.

The latter will take that extra risk if it’s to his benefit, much like a Schumacher, Mansell, Prost, Senna — and even an Alonso. That’ll be interesting to watch if it comes down to a moment like that, and I hope it doesn’t.

Malaysia has the potential to be another flashpoint. We’ve had a championship ebbing and flowing between Lewis and Sebastian, but without it entirely igniting between the pair on the track.

Sepang is that potential moment for wheel-banging racing from the start line: the first real out-and-out fight for both drivers at a circuit that suits both Mercedes and Ferrari.

It’s now Lewis’s title to lose. He’s done the hard work to first get himself on a level playing field and now boasts the advantage.

Ferrari will have motivation, but there’s pressure, too, as they know they can’t put a foot wrong. It’s damage limitation and win at all costs. But one race where Lewis doesn’t finish and they’re back in it. I don’t see Mercedes breaking down — the car looks very reliable — but you never know.

And, in the back of Mercedes’ mind, is that potential howler, the weakness where the car just goes wrong.

Put it this way, there is a lot more racing to come.

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