Comebacks show Vettel can beat Hamilton to title – Horner

Sebastian Vettel’s previous title comebacks show he can still beat current Formula 1 championship leader Lewis Hamilton to this year’s world championship, according to former team boss Christian Horner.

Hamilton holds a 40-point margin over Vettel following his seventh victory of the 2018 campaign in Singapore, with just six races remaining and 150 points up for grabs this season.

Vettel notably recovered from a 31-point deficit in six races en route to winning his maiden world championship with Red Bull in 2010, before the German overturned a 42-point gap to Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso in five races to claim the 2012 crown.

“Usually he’s very good under pressure,” Horner, who oversaw all of Vettel’s four championship-winning seasons at Red Bull, said.

“He certainly won’t give up, he was 40-odd points before down I think in 2012. But obviously it will be disappointing for him to have lost out to Lewis at this race.”

Vettel’s season has been marred by a number of high-profile mistakes, including clashing with Valtteri Bottas at the start in France, crashing out of the lead in Germany, and tangling with Hamilton on the opening lap in Italy.

Despite appearing to boast the fastest overall package on the grid, Ferrari and Vettel have squandered a number of opportunities with Mercedes capitalising to lead both championships, though Horner is not ruling out another Vettel comeback.

“The Ferrari’s a very quick car,” Horner added. “There’s still six races to go, 150 points available. Anything can still happen but Lewis is over a [race win] and third place ahead.”

“Obviously it looks like Lewis is in the driving seat now. He’s just got to be consistent to year-end. It’s going to be an uphill battle [for Ferrari] to get themselves back into it.”