Sebastian Vettel suffered a blow in the F1 title race last weekend
but has an immediate chance to respond against rival Lewis Hamilton
on Sunday.
Momentum has ebbed and flowed in the Formula One
world championship this season and going into Sunday's Hungarian
Grand Prix, the final race before the break, the pressure is again on
Sebastian Vettel.
The Ferrari driver has been widely criticized in Italian media this
week for the error which cost a near certain victory at the German
GP last weekend.
And with a 17-point deficit to Lewis Hamilton going into Sunday,
there is little room for another slip.
"I don't need pity. It was my fault," he said of sliding off the wet
Hockenheim track within sight of a home victory which eventually went
to Hamilton.
"When everything goes well you are cheered, and if you make mistakes
you are criticized. So I don't care much about what people say. I
have to be at peace with myself."
Being at peace is needed in the tight title battle. Hamilton, of
Mercedes, has already shown last year that he is able to capitalize
on Vettel's errors.
The previous campaign looked set to go to the wire with Vettel well
positioned after winning Hungary but the German crashed from pole in
Singapore to turn a likely title lead into a large deficit he never
recovered.
That Singapore street circuit was crucial to Vettel's hopes as it was
recognized his Ferrari took slow, tight corners better than
Hamilton's Mercedes - something that still holds true and applies to
the Hungaroring this weekend.
If Vettel beats Hamilton to cut the gap, it will be game on with nine
races left. But if Hamilton can expand his lead to 20-plus points, he
will be in pole position for a fifth title.
That is despite the advantage Mercedes have had in power during the
hybrid era since 2014 looking to have been cancelled out.
"In the cold light of day, we also know and recognize that we did not
bring the quickest car to Hockenheim," Mercedes motorsport chief Toto
Wolff said.
"Hungary will see another tough fight with both Ferrari and Red Bull.
It's a high down force track and on paper they should both be very
fast in Budapest.
"However, if there's one thing the German Grand Prix taught us, it's
the fact that predictions don't determine race results. We will give
it everything to go into the summer shutdown with as many points as
possible."
Mercedes are not without errors of their own this term, however, with
Hamilton's stunning fightback from 14th in Germany preventing a third
successive race ending in defeat.
In Austria and Britain mechanical and tactical mistakes proved costly
and Hamilton started so far down the grid because of hydraulic
failure in qualifying.
Red Bull could also feature in the hunt alongside the big two with
Daniel Ricciardo returning to the seen of his 2014 triumph.
"I like the Hungarian GP," he said. "It's fast, it's normally really
hot and even though it's a tight track there's still quite a lot of
overtaking and always a bit going on."