Sebastian Vettel has made quite a habit of starting races from the back of the field in the previous few years and working his way through the field. On the one hand, it’s great for the fans to see his efforts, but maybe in situations like the 2015 Canadian Grand Prix it would have been better for him to start at the front end, as he looks to be the only one with the pace to challenge Mercedes.
Vettel isn’t one for simple races. Only last weekend did he get into a number of incidents and difficulties. The first came when he was battling Alonso and this one looked personal as the four-time world champion was trying to pass the Spaniard who left Ferrari to go to struggling McLaren. Vettel could have pulled out of this battle earlier but it ended up costing him time.
Later on, Ferrari thought that being stuck behind the Massa/Ericsson battle was slowing Vettel down and decided to pit him. For a team who have done so well in the pit stops this season, this was the worst. There was a problem with a tyre, meaning the stop took around five seconds compared to the normal two, as Vettel ended up finishing four seconds behind Räikkönen. This could have been critical come the end of the race.
Vettel was also involved in an incident with Nico Hulkenburg where two didn’t go into one and Hulkenburg was left in a spin. Luckily, it didn’t effect either of them too badly.
Another time fans saw Vettel drive from the back was in Abu Dhabi in 2012. Vettel had to start from the back of the grid due to a fuelling error which meant he wasn’t able to get back into the pit lane after qualifying. As the Red Bull was clearly the quickest car at the time his first journey through the field was quick. However, it was cut short when under the safety car Daniel Ricciardo was stopping too much for Vettel and he ended up running over the break mark board which meant a wing change was needed and the back of the grid beckoned again. Like the first time he didn’t come across too much trouble but did have a fantastic battle with Jenson Button to put him third and it was a great overtake that left people assured that he can race.
The most important of Vettel’s drives from the back was, of course, the 2012 Brazilian GP. The Alonso-Vettel battle came down to one race and started in the worst possible way for Vettel. After turning into turn four a bit too early, he hit Bruno Senna not once but twice which left him with substantial damage to the car, including a cracked floor which was laps away from splitting. Impressively, Vettel was up to eighth by around lap ten, and he continued to make his way into the higher positions when the weather started playing havoc with the tyres.
Vettel pitted and as the radio wasn’t working the team brought out the wrong set, meaning he had to start again from the back. This was a tougher job as the rain came down, but he managed to pull it off and thus came the poignant moment of Michael Schumacher moving out the way to let him through to get the position he needed to claim his third consecutive title.
Vettel’s drives from the back have allowed fans to see his true potential. As much entertainment as they bring, Ferrari need Vettel to start at the front in Austria to see if the upgrades allow them to be closer to Mercedes and challenge the sport’s most dominant team.
