A Ferrari car in the bottom half of the grid is no longer a surprise to anyone. But it is disappointing when that driver is Sebastian Vettel more often than not.

As he inches closer to the end of his career with the Prancing Stallion, Sochi did not offer any respite to his terrible tale of disappointing outings.

The 33-year-old German driver finished 13th, having suffered a rather disastrous qualifying. And with the SF1000 just not fast enough, he was left behind quite easily.

Even tire strategies are something where Vettel is not exactly being given a priority. And understandably so, because Charles Leclerc has now assumed the mantle of being Ferrari’s #1.

Sebastian Vettel wanted to pit but could not

The team radio saw Vettel complain about the tires that were failing him. But the team did not let him pit, owing to the fact that Charles Leclerc was due to come in for his stop. And so, they told Vettel to stay out on the track.

Despite Vettel losing grip on his tyres, the idea was to avoid losing positions to Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi and Kimi Raikkonen. But eventually, the situation worsened, forcing Vettel to box.

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Sebastian Vettel had put up a brilliant defence on the track, when Leclerc pitted. They did this as part of the team game to keep the pressure going on Renault’s Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo. It ensured that by the time Leclerc came out, he was slightly behind Ricciardo in P7.

But starting on the Mediums meant that tires faced degradation. And eventually, when Vettel boxed in Lap 32, the gap was not big enough to exit the pit lane without losing places. That saw him relegated to P16, and from there on out it was a difficult fight for survival.

Ferrari looking to bide their remaining time with Vettel

It is not the first time that Vettel and Ferrari have had disagreements over the team radio. Things have probably gotten to the point where the relationship has strained a little. Both parties know and realize the flaws and are trying to mitigate them as the race weekends come by.

Of course, Vettel, being the professional that he is, will still try to challenge at every turn and corner of a race. But steadily, there is a consensus now that his motivation at Ferrari has been exhausted.

Regardless, Vettel awaits his home race at Nürburgring in a couple of weeks. And he will hope to put on a decent showing for the crowd there.