Following on from yesterday’s post about why Red Bull should allow Max Verstappen to leave in order to join Mercedes, now it is the turn to make the case of why Sebastian Vettel should leave Scuderia Ferrari and join Mercedes.
Unjustly perhaps Sebastian Vettel, a four time world champion, and winner of, to date, 42 Grand Prix and claimer of 46 pole positions is under threat of being overlooked when it comes to looking back at the great Formula 1 champions of the past. He to me is in danger of the majority of those in Formula 1 looking at him and his career as being in the right place at the right time rather than having truly earned and fought for his achievements.
To me there is no better way for Vettel to remedy this than to leave Scuderia Ferrari and take up the challenge of beating Lewis Hamilton and making Mercedes his team rather than Hamilton’s team.
It would also, as some would point out, be an equivalent of when Prost and Senna were at McLaren in 1988 and 1989, which I believe would be good for Vettel and his legacy as a champion in the sport. He was never really challenged by Mark Webber during the glory years at Red Bull and that is something, by moving to Mercedes, I feel Vettel can fix by showing that he is good enough to beat another great driver of the current era in equal machinery.
There is also the topic of romanticism, as romantic as it would be to see Sebastian Vettel emulate Michael Schumacher, his childhood hero, and turn Scuderia Ferrari into a dominant, leading force in Formula 1, there is a lot to gain by leaving. He only needs to look at Lewis Hamilton himself for an example of this. As romantic as it would have been to some for Lewis Hamilton to emulate his hero, Ayrton Senna, and win all his titles at McLaren, it can be seen that Hamilton has been better off moving away from McLaren and joining Mercedes where he has claimed two world titles and 32 Grand Prix victories in four seasons.
There is also no doubt that by losing Nico Rosberg, Formula 1 has a problem of finding a rivalry to illuminate and sell the sport. With Vettel moving to Mercedes the problem is very quickly solved, two drivers fighting to be known as the greatest of their era, and eager to win again, are now able to battle directly and on equal terms to settle the argument once and for all.
The Motorsport Critic 