Sebastian Vettel is a man on a mission. He hopes to recreate and rebuild a dynasty with the greatest team in Formula 1, Scuderia Ferrari. Vettel is following in the footsteps of his friend and mentor, Michael Schumacher, in his attempt to raise Ferrari from the ashes and re-establish them at the top of the Formula 1 world championship standings.
Sebastian Vettel: a promising start to the 2017 season
Sebastian Vettel has already made a promising start to this season. Vettel won the opening race in Australia and then again in the third race, the Grand Prix of Bahrain.
In addition, Vettel just won the Monaco Grand Prix for Ferrari, giving them their first win there since 2001. The last driver to win at Monaco for Ferrari was Vettel’s hero, Michael Schumacher. The emotional value of this win at Monaco was not lost on Vettel and his emotion came through in his post-race interview. Vettel has a passion for old things and for history and his desire to build a legacy with Ferrari, as Schumacher did, burns brightly in all that he does with the team. Vettel has even learned Italian, and thanks his team in English and then Italian after every race.
The significance of Ferrari winning any race, let alone Monaco this season cannot be understated. Petronas Mercedes has, for the last several years, dominated Formula 1.
Mercedes has not only taken the majority of the front rows but won every race. It was a similar situation that Michael Schumacher came into when he joined Scuderia Ferrari in 1996. Ferrari was struggling at best when Schumacher joined the team. He built a dynasty that included winning the world championship five times in a row from 2000-2004.
Sebastian Vettel has found himself at Ferrari in a strangely similar situation. Scuderia Ferrari has struggled for many years with their last world championship dating back to 2007 with current driver Kimi Raikkonen. Vettel, however, aims to change all of that and return Ferrari to their former glory.
Will Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari repeat history?
The bells in Maranello, Italy rang resoundingly throughout the town as they announced Ferrari’s victory in Monaco. The team has now won three of the last six races, much to the delight of the team and fans around the world. Vettel and Ferrari are determined to continue this trend and have spent countless hours tweaking and re-tweaking aspects of their cars to get as close to perfection as possible. In two weeks they will cross the Atlantic and take on the Canadian Grand Prix. Ferrari and Vettel hope to continue their winning streak and ride the momentum of their Monaco victory to further extend their championship lead.
Mercedes, however, will not give up easily.
The team, led by Toto Wolf and Nikki Lauda, are not ones to sit on their laurels. Their drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, are not ones to sit by and let others dominate them either, and despite the challenges that Mercedes faced in Monaco, they will no doubt come back faster and stronger in Canada.
Sebastian Vettel sits on the edge of history. He has an opportunity recreate a glorious past and rebuild from the ruins a mighty Formula 1 empire. He has the support of Team Principal, Maurizio Arrivabene, the team itself, and Ferrari fans around the world as he fights to regain glory for Scuderia Ferrari and build a dynasty of his own.
