Straight for F1

In the second part of our new series we will have a look on the effect of Carlos Sainz in his professional career so far. 

SUCCESS IN JUNIORS SERIES
In year 2010 Sainz got to the world of professional motorsport. That time he was racing in series of Formula BMW and earned the fourth place. In the next year he moved on to the European Formula Renault and to the Northeuropean Formula Renault. In the first case it was second place, but he ruled the second mentioned series. Next series, in which Carlos operated the upcoming series were British Formula 3, European Formula 3 series and European Formula 3 which belongs under National motorsport federation (FIA). Carlos didn’t achieve significant success here, but won few times. In year 2013 he moved to the GP3 series, where he earned one victory and two podiums. Overall he ended tenth. He had great next season. In the series Formula Renault 3.5 he earned 7 victories and ruled the whole series.Thanks to that his gate to the world of F1 opened, and he was hired by Red Bull in their B class team, Torro Rosso.

TOUGH FIRST SEASON IN F1 
The beginning of season was for Carlos Sainz great. In the first two GP’s in Australia and Malaysia he was able to earn points. He had same amount of points as his 17 years old team colleague Max Verstappen. Questioning was, who will be better. Carlos earned points on his home track in Spain and in Monaco, but he fell out of next four GP’s. On the othet side, Verstappen was earning points and he flashed in Hungary, where he was fourth. After summer brake Sainz scored three times – in Singapore, Japan and in USA. Overall he earned 18 points and ended on 15th place in championship. Verstappen earned up to 49 points, so he totally outclassed Sainz.

WALKOUT OF VERSTAPPEN TO RED BULL – ENVY OR BIGGER MOTIVATION? 
In the beginning of year 2016 driving group wasn’t changed. However, everything changed after the GP of Russia. Red Bull wasn’t delighted about his driver Daniil Kvyat and they decided to move him to Toro Rosso, next to Carlos Sainz. Max Verstappen was put on his place. Sainz was jealous about his previous team colleague for sure, but it became more motivating. In the beginning of season, when Verstappen was his team colleague, Carlos Sainz scored twice. But in Spain, after his walkout Sainz ended on sixth place, which was his best result in his carreer so far. Happiness was much bigger, because it happened on his home track. In the first half of season he was regularly scoring and beating Kvyat. In the second half the form of Toro Rosso went down, but Carlos was able to get solid results in Brasil and USA. It was sixth place in both cases. In the end of season he had 46 points and ended on 12th place.He clearly beat his team colleague Daniil Kvyat, who earned just 4 points in Toro Rosso.

FOR HOSTING TO RED BULL
In year 2017 Carlos continued in Torro Rosso and it was his best season in B class team of Red Bull. He scored regularly and he ended on the fourth place in Singapour. Earned 48 points, while Kvyat has earned just 4 (he earned one more after walkout of Sainz). But that’s not the end. After Japanese GP, Red Bull sent Carlos Sainz for hosting to Renault. He was supposed to go there in year 2018, but Renault asked Red Bull, to replace Jolyon Palmer by Carlos earlier in 2017. Palmer has scored just once, what wasn’t enough and the leadership of french team realized, that if they want to be sixth in constructeer’s cup, they will have to replace their british driver. Carlos ended on seventh place in his first race in yellow suit, which were in the USA. He also beat his new team colleague Nico Hulkenberg. Unfortunately, it was his last time ending in top 10 in 2017, if he wasn’t so unlucky he would win more. Even though he helped Renault with his 6 points to end on sixth place in constructeer’s cup. In the next season they were starting from down below and everyone was curious how will Nico Hulkenberg vs Carlos Sainz fight end. Both drivers were regularly earning points, but the german driver had more of them. After summer break has Hulkenberg made few mistakes and Sainz has got in better form. He didn’t beat Hulkenberg, but they both got Renault on fourth place. Not even that kept Sainz in Renault and he had to search for new seat during summer break. In the end he signed contract with McLaren and became new team colleague of Lando Norris. 

THE FANTASTIC PHASE WITH MCLAREN
McLaren needed after another failed season to go to front. In the second race of this season in Bahrain, has McLaren already pointed on how succesful this season could be. But Carlos’s tire was flat after colision with Max Verstappen and he dropped down to the last place of starting field, in the end he decided to quit the race. It’s a pity, because it could be sixth place. In the end Lando Norris took it, and brought first points for Mclaren in that season. Carlos wanted to score his first points too and he managed to do that in Azerbaian. He finished seventh and this moment kicked him hard to start. He scored in every singel race except GP of Canada until summer break. McLaren has showed up as the best in rest of the world. In top 10 has Carlos appeared on seventh, sixth and also on fifth place. In Austria he showed great comeback and after starting in the bottom of starting grid he ended on pretty good eight place. In points he was doing much better than Norris, but for young Briton it was his first season in the queen of motorsport and we also have to admit, that he was unlucky too. Carlos and Lando, this duo was entertaining fans of F1 whole season. You can look up some of their jokes on Youtube. The situation after summer break wasn’t so ideal for Sainz. He dropped twice of three races and once he ended on twelveth place, but we can’t blame him. In the first case his car betrayed him, in the second mechanics made a mistake in boxes and in the third it was colision with Nico Hulkenberg, where he was shot by German. But later he ran away and in Japan and Russia he was sixth and fifth. He scored three times until the end of the year, but what happend in Brasil was incredible. Carlos had problem with car during qualification so he didn’t even drive one lap. So that means he had to start from the bottom of starting grid . But many favorites dropped out of race and Carlos took the chance. He finished fourth, but after the race commissioners gave 5 second penalty to Lewis Hamilton and he lost his third place. So Carlos earned his first podium – after starting from the last place! Unbelievable! Even though he couldn’t enjoy normal podium ceremony, joy of his first throphy wasn’t destroyed. After the official statement of FIA whole team went immediately on podium and celebrated. It has been the first podium for McLaren since GP of Australia 2014. In year 2020 during the coronacrisis had Carlos Sainz signed contract with Ferrari for 2 years, starting in 2021. He definitelly earned this place after performances in McLaren. 

CARLOS SAINZ – STATS

Date of birth: 1.9.1994, Spain (Madrid)

Grand Prix entered: 108

Podiums: 1

Wins: 0

Pole positions: 0

Titles: 0

So this is the first part of our brand new series called “The road to F1”. At first we wanted to start with another driver, but according to situation from past few days we decided, that the first driver who we are going to talk about in this series is Sebastian Vettel.

SEBASTIAN VETTEL
At first, we will start with actions from past days. Loyal fans of F1 for sure noticed, that Sebastian Vettel won’t continue with Ferrari in 2021. Both sides haven’t agreed on extending their cooperation. This message shocked whole world of motorsport. On the other side, this step was expected especially after calling Ferrari’s deal as a joke by the German driver. His current employer offered him a one year contract with 12 mil.€ sallary, what would be almost about 30 mil. less than his current salary. Another factor which definitelly didn’t help Sebastian was engagement of Charles Leclerc. We will talk about that in the end of this article.

CAREER BEGINNING 
As every professional driver, Sebastian Vettel started his carrier with karts too. In 8 years he won The german junior championship, Monaco’s cup and European junior championship. In year 2003 he ended on the second place in Formula BMW series. One year later he won and his reward was transfer to european F3.  In the first year has Vettel fought  6 podiums and overall, he was fifth in the end of season. Next to it he has driven also in series Masters of Formula 3, in spanish F3 and in the race in Macau, where he ended third. But that’s not everything. In the same year he became test driver of team F1 BMW Sauber. In year 2006 he was second in series of european F3 and moved on to series F3.5  Renault. In year 2007 he ended fifth.

THE CHANCE IN BMW
In year 2007 his dream about driving F1 came true. During GP of Monaco Robert Kubica injured, so BMW had to replace him for GP of USA. Decision fell on Sebastian and he used his chance brilliantly. In the race he ended on the eighth place and he became the youngest driver in history, who earned points. Even though he had to give the seat back to Kubica, who recovered from  his injurence. 

THE PHASE IN TORO ROSSO
“B” of Red Bull, Toro Rosso was searching for replacement of flat Scott Speed. Instead of him they decided for Sebastian Vettel. And they did good. In year 2007 he earned points just once, but markedly. In GP of China he took up great fourth place. So F1 had new star on the grid.  It was confirmed in year 2008. The results of german driver were pretty impressive, but he made big shock in italian Monza. In the qualifying he earned pole postion and he kept his lead in race too. Thanks to this succes he secured his place in the main team of Red Bull.

THE GOLDEN ERA IN RED BULL
The teamamte of Sebastian Vettel was in Red Bull experienced driver Mark Webber. It was questionable, how will this duo do and if will they reach higher places. They did, probably higher than they expected. Austrian team was a candidate for win in constructors championship and rookie in the team, Vettel for earning world championship title. Unfortunately for this duo, team Brawn had faster car and they earned both titles. But Sebastian was second and he confirmed his talent. But year 2010 brought a twist. Brawn appeared in financial problems and in next season continued as Mercedes. Even though season didn’t star for Sebastian Vettel the best. In Bahrain technical issue cost him a victory and in Australia he retired after driving mistake. However, he was gradually getting back up, but after GP of Singapore he was loosing decades of points on championship’s leader Alonso. In the end of the season he had brilliant condition and after the last race everyone could call him as the youngest master of world in F1’s history. The next year he was almost unbeatable. He won 12 of 19 GP’s and we didn’t see him on podium only twice. In the end of the season his lead before second Button was more that 100 points. In the next year it wasn’t so easy for two times world champion. In the first half of season he achieved only one victory, but after summer brake he won four times. For the title he fought as same as in 2010, with Alonso.  The drama ended in the last race in Brasil and it was really hard fight. After start Sebastian Vettel got in colision and dropped down at last place. In the ended he got to sixth place, which was enough for achieving third title. Season in 2013 was same as in year 2011, but more dominant. In the first half of season, first drivers were fighting for points, but in the second half he totally destroyed his rivals and achieved 9 wins in a row. So he earned the fourth world championship title and he got to third place in the table of numbers of wins. The 2014 wasn’t for Sebastian Vettel so succesful. Consequence of new rules was, that Mercedes got into lead almost every race. Four times master of world didn’t even earn a victory and he was also beaten by his team colleague Daniel Ricciardo, who earned three wins. He was also failed few times by his car. This means, that year 2014 was his last year in Red Bull. Subsequently he decided to sign a contract with Ferrari and to replace Alonso.

NEW CHAPTER WITH FERRARI Since 2015 Sebastian Vettel has been active on the Apennine peninsula. After unsuccessful 2014 season the German driver wanted to restart his career. It was question whether this season will be successful because Ferrari finished fourth in last season. However, Vettel started to the season superbly and he scored his first win in red colours. Ferrari came back on top after almost two years. He also has great results in next races. He usually beat his team mate Kimi Räikkonen and scored next two wins and one pole position in 2015. It was P3 in championship standings. In 2016 it was expected that Ferrari will fight for first place with Mercedes, but that’s not happen. Italian team was overtaken by Red Bull and Vettel with Räikkonen had no chance to score podiums. However, Ferrari was in 2017 on the same level as Mercedes. There was hope that the title would come to Maranello after 10 years. But in the second half of season came lot of problems and Ferrari lost championship. The 2018 year was similar, but here Ferrari lost championship by Sebastian Vettel’s mistakes. After that moment German driver was criticized. And here we comes back to what we talked about at the beginning of the article. Charles Leclerc’s arrival put Vettel under big media pressure, which led to mistakes. He had better results in the second half of the season but still there were something what played against him. For example, some mechanical failure or team order in Russia. At the end of 2019 season Ferrari signed contract with Charles Leclerc until 2024. It was clear that Monaco driver became a team priority. If Vettel extended the contract he became number two. He doesn’t want it so he is leaving Ferrari. There are lot of questions about his future. He has chance only in Renault or Mercedes. However, lot of people are talking he will retire.

SEBASTIAN VETTEL – STATS

Date of birth: 3.7.1987, Germany (Heppenheim)

Grand Prix entered: 241

Podiums: 120

Wins: 53

Pole positions: 57

Titles: 4

Máme tu prvý diel našej novej série The Road to F1. Pôvodne sme chceli začať iným jazdcom, no vzhľadom na okolnosti z posledných dní sme sa rozhodli, že prvým jazdcom, o ktorom si v tejto sérii povieme bude Sebastian Vettel.

SEBASTIAN VETTEL
Najskôr začneme udalosťami z posledných dní. Skalní fanúšikovia F1 určite postrehli, že Sebastian Vettel v roku 2021 nebude pokračovať vo Ferrari. Obe strany sa nedohodli na predĺžení spolupráce. Táto správa šokovala celý svet motoršportu. Na druhej strane, tento krok sa viacmenej očakával hlavne po tom, ako nemecký pretekár označil ponuku Ferrari ako žart. Jeho súčasný zamestnávateľ mu ponúkal ročnú zmluvu s platom 12 miliónov eur, čo by bolo o necelých 30 miliónov eur menej ako jeho súčasný plat. Ďalším faktorom, ktorý Sebastianovi určite nepomohol bolo angažovanie Charlesa Leclerca. O tom si detailnejšie povieme v poslednej fáze článku. 

ZAČIATKY KARIÉRY
Tak ako každý profesionálny jazdec, aj Sebastian Vettel začínal svoju kariéru na motokárach. Za 8 rokov v nich vyhral Nemecký juniorský šampionát, Monacký pohár a Európsky juniorský šampionát. V roku 2003 obsadil v sérii Formula BMW 2.miesto. O rok neskôr túto sériu ovládol a odmenou mu bol prestup do európskej Formuly 3. V prvý rok jej pôsobenia si Vettel vybojoval šesť pódií a celkovo v sezóne skončil piaty. Popritom si ešte zajazdil v sérii Masters of Formula 3, v španielskej Formule 3 a v pretekoch v Macau, na ktorých obsadil 3.miesto. To nebolo všetko. V ten istý rok sa stal testovacím jazdcom tímu F1 BMW Sauber. V roku 2006 obsadil v európskej Formule 3 2.miesto a prestúpil do sérii Formula 3.5 Renault. V roku 2007 v nej obsadil piate miesto. 

ŠANCA V BMW
V roku 2007 sa Sebastianovi Vettelovi splnil sen zajazdiť si vo Formule 1. Počas VC Kanady sa zranil Robert Kubica, a tak ho BMW na VC USA muselo nahradiť. Voľba padla práve na Sebastiana a ten šancu dokonale využil. V pretekoch obsadil výborné ôsme miesto a stal sa najmladším jazdcom v histórii, ktorý bodoval. Napriek tomu však musel sedačku vrátiť Kubicovi, ktorý sa zotavil zo svojho zranenia. 

ETAPA V TORO ROSSO
“Béčko” Red Bullu Toro Rosso hľadalo náhradu za nevýrazneho Scotta Speeda. Namiesto neho sa rozhodli angažovať Sebastiana Vettela. A urobili dobre. V roku 2007 bodoval len raz, ale výrazne. Na VC Číny obsadil senzačné 4.miesto. Formula 1 tak mala na štartovom poli novú hviezdu. A potvrdilo sa to v roku 2008. Výsledky nemeckého jazdca boli veľmi pôsobivé, no o obrovský šok sa postaral v talianskej Monze. V kvalifikácii získal pole position a vedenie si udržal aj v pretekoch. Vďaka tomuto úspechu si zabezpečil miesto v hlavnom tíme Red Bullu. 

ZLATÁ ÉRA V RED BULLE
Kolegom Sebastiana Vettela bol v Red Bulle skúsený Mark Webber. Bolo otázkou, ako sa tejto dvojici bude dariť a či dostanú stajňu na vyššie priečky. To sa im podarilo, dokonca viac, ako zrejme očakávali. Rakúsky tím bol zrazu kandidátom na zisk pohára konštruktérov a nováčik v tíme Vettel na zisk titulu majstra sveta. Žiaľ pre túto dvojicu, tím Brawn mal rýchlejší monopost a ukoristili oba tituly. Sebastian ale skončil hneď druhý a potvrdil svoj talent. Rok 2010 však priniesol zvrat. Brawn sa ocitol vo finančných problémoch a do ďalšej sezóny pokračoval ako Mercedes. Sezóna sa ale pre Vettela nezačala najlepšie. V Bahrajne ho o víťazstvo pripravil technický problém a v Austrálii po jazdeckej chybe vypadol. Postupne sa však dostával späť nahor, no po VC Singapuru strácal na lídra šampionátu Alonsa už niekoľko desiatok bodov a zdalo sa, že z boja o titul je už odpísany. V závere sezóny sa však dostal do neskutočnej formy a po posledných pretekoch ho mohol každý oslovovať ako najmladšieho majstra sveta v histórii F1. Nasledujúci rok bol rodák z Heppenheimu takmer neporaziteľny. Vyhral 12 Veľkých cien z 19 a len dvakrát sme ho nevideli na pódiu. Pred druhým Buttonom mal na konci sezóny náskok viac ako 100 bodov. V nasledujúcej sezóne to už také ľahké pre vtedy dvojnásobného majstra sveta nebolo. V prvej polovici sezóny zaznamenal len jedno víťazstvo, no po letnej prestávke vyhral štyrikrát. O titul bojoval rovnako ako v roku 2010 s Fernandom Alonsom. Dráma vyvrcholila až v posledných pretekoch v Brazílii a bol to naozaj tuhý boj. Po štarte sa Sebastian dostal do kolízie a prepadol sa až na posledné miesto. Napokon sa však predral na šieste miesto, ktoré mu stačilo na zisk tretieho titulu majstra sveta. Sezóna 2013 bola podobná ako 2011, ale ešte dominantnejšia. V prvej polovici sa poprední jazdci bili o body, no v druhej polovici Vettel absolútne zdemoloval konkurenciu a zaznamenal 9 víťazstiev v rade. Získal tak štvrtý titul majstra sveta a dostal sa na tretie miesto v tabuľke s počtom víťazstiev. Rok 2014 už taký úspešný pre Sebastiana Vettela nebol. Nové pravidlá mali za následok fakt, že Mercedes sa dostal do čela a takmer v každých pretekoch mal rezervované prvé priečky. Štvornásobny majster sveta nezískal ani jedno víťazstvo a dokonca ho zdolal aj nový tímový kolega Daniel Ricciardo, ktorý si ich pripísal až tri. Taktiež ho niekoľkokrát zradilo auto. Toto všetko rozhodlo, že rok 2014 bol pre Vettela posledným v Red Bulle. Následne sa rozhodol podpísať zmluvu s Ferrari, kde nahradil Fernanda Alonsa. 

NOVÁ KAPITOLA S FERRARI
Od roku 2015 pôsobil Sebastian Vettel na Apeninskom polostrove. Nemecký pretekár chcel po neúspešnej sezóne 2014 reštartovať kariéru. Bolo však otázne, či bude táto sezóna úspešná. Veď stajňa z Maranella obsadila v poslednej sezóne až štvrté miesto. Vettel však odštartoval do sezóny vynikajúco a už v druhých pretekoch si pripísal prvé víťazstvo s Ferrari, ktoré sa vďaka nemu vrátilo na najvyšší stupienok na pódiu po takmer dvoch rokoch. Skvelé výsledky zaznamenával aj naďalej. Tímového kolegu Kimiho Raikkonena pravidelne porážal a vo zvyšku sezóny si pripísal ďalšie dve víťazstvá a aj pole position za víťazstvo v kvalifikácii. V šampionáte skončil tretí. V roku 2016 sa očakávalo, že Ferrari zabojuje s Mercedesom o titul, no stal sa presný opak. Taliansky tím sa prepadol až za Red Bull a Vettel spolu s Raikkonenom sa nevedeli dostať ani na pódium. To čo sa však nepodarilo v roku 2016, vyšlo v roku 2017. Ferrari bolo na úrovni Mercedesu a svitla nádej, že po 10 rokoch konečne príde vytúžený titul. V druhej polovici však prišli rôzne komplikácie a vďaka tomu šampionát ovládol Mercedes. Podobný bol rok 2018, kde tentoraz rozhodli chyby Sebastiana Vettela. Od tohto momentu sa začala na adresu nemeckého pretekára valiť vlna kritiky. A tu sa vraciame k tomu, čo sme spomínali na začiatku dnešného článku. Príchod Charlesa Leclerca dostal Vettela pod veľký mediálny tlak, z ktorého pramenili chyby. V druhej polovici minulej sezóny sme síce videli nejaké to zlepšenie, no napriek tomu hrali niektoré veci proti nemu. Boli to technické problémy, ale napríklad aj tímová réžia v Rusku, ktorá Sebastiana pripravila o víťazstvo. Po roku 2019 podpísalo Ferrari s Charlesom Leclercom zmluvu platnú do roku 2024. Bolo teda jasné, že prioritou tímu sa stal monacký pretekár. Vettel by sa prípadným podpisom zmluvy stal jasnou tímovou dvojkou Leclerca, čo určite nechce a preto vo Ferrari končí. Jeho budúcnosť je otázna. V hre je už len prestup do Renaultu, alebo Mercedesu. Druhá voľba sa však zdá byť nepravdepodobná a pri prvej to tiež nevyzerá ružovo. Preto sa čoraz hlasnejšie hovorí, že príde odchod z F1. 

V posledných rokoch mal Sebastian Vettel veľa nepríjemných momentov, no ani to nemení nič na tom, že v F1 zanechá výraznú stopu. Nie je veľa ľudí, ktorí sa môžu pýšiť štyrmi titulmi majstra sveta Formuly 1. 

SEBASTIAN VETTEL – ŠTATISTIKY

Dátum narodenia: 3.7.1987, Nemecko (Heppenheim)

Absolvované preteky: 241 

Pódia: 120

Víťazstvá: 53

Pole positions: 57

Tituly: 4

*Pole positions sú víťazstvá v kvalifikácii