“Show a little more respect for Sebastian Vettel”- When Lewis Hamilton defended Ferrari rival on social media after 2018 Japanese GP

Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton were primary Title contenders during the 2018 F1 season, back when the former was with Ferrari. 

Vettel joined Ferrari in 2015, and he was being billed as the one to bring Championship glory back to Maranello. The Scuderia hadn’t won a world Title since 2008, and the German joined them after winning four consecutive Championships between 2010 and 2013.

Unfortunately for Vettel and Ferrari, this was an era of Mercedes dominance. He stayed in Italy until 2020 but was never able to put up much of a challenge for the Silver Arrows and Lewis Hamilton in particular.

2018 was probably the closest he came to winning the crown with Ferrari. He started the season incredibly well, but a series of mistakes towards the latter stages and Mercedes’ increases performance saw Hamilton clinch yet another Title.

One notable mistake he made was at the 2018 Japanese GP. He was 50 points behind Hamilton coming into the race at Suzuka, with five rounds to go. It was going to be tough, but a possible deficit to overcome. However, an incident in the race spoiled his Title hopes that year.

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It’s not easy being an F1 driver, Lewis Hamilton said in support of Sebastian Vettel

At the race in Suzuka, Vettel made contact with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen which saw him spin out of track. He recovered eventually, but only manage to muster a sixth place finish. Hamilton meanwhile, went on to win the race, increasing the gap between them to 67 points.

With just four more rounds to go, fans saw this as the end of Vette’s charge for the Championship. On top of that, he was also heavily criticized on social media by fans and journalists.

Hamilton was the first person, who publicly stood up in support of his rival. They were competitors on track, but Hamilton called for fans to leave Vettel alone.

“You simply cannot imagine how hard it is to do what we do,” he said. “It is to be expected that being humans, we will make mistakes but it is how we get through them that counts.”

Vettel wouldn’t manage to beat Hamilton in 2018, and also failed in 2019. 2020 saw him suffer an abysmal campaign and he left Ferrari that year. Since 2021, he’s been with Silverstone based outfit Aston Martin.

Also read: “Normally Lewis Hamilton is more favorite to us”- Sergio Perez reveals his family supports Mercedes superstar more than Max Verstappen