It’s five races left till the end of the current 2018 season, but some of us already have that feeling that the final standings is pretty much predictable. Mercedes team is still dominating as it was during the past few years, although there were great expectations and hopes placed on Ferrari in 2017 and 2018 both from team members’ and fans’ side.

Yes, there were some controversial moments, red cars actually winning races and Sebastian Vettel leading the championship, Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton periodically saying that Ferrari became a real rival, it’s tough to fully control the situation now, and so on. However, the German team is still on top of the Constructors and Drivers’ standings, so how did the team from Maranello lose its positions?

Back in 2014, signing a contract with a team from his childhood dreams, Sebastian Vettel was full of enthusiasm, ready to work, to build an environment around himself and win a title together with the people he was going to work with. At the same time, Maurizio Arrivabene became Ferrari’s team principal, so these changes made us hope for some kind of a new era for Scuderia.

Today all the hopes are under a question sign.

Being a ‘number one’ driver in a team, Vettel is in a really comfortable place; however it’s not the only criteria for him to remain calm and concentrated – he is still impulsive and makes mistakes under pressure, just like the mistake he made during the German GP. Expectations were high both the past and the present seasons while main rivals were ahead , media praised and blamed equally depending on the conditions and results,– that led to a huge pressure on Vettel, who is still eager for the fifth title.

Despite the written above, speaking to Auto Bild recently, Sebastian rejected the need for a sport psychologist:

“I find the idea very interesting, but I have not met a person that I think can help. I've already researched it a bit, so the whole topic has not passed me by.

When you have stress, you need to find balance. I have developed things that work for me. And I have enough self-discipline, so as not to be confused.”

“In my spare time I hardly read articles about Formula One, more about football”,  he added.

As for the next season, it’s now officially confirmed that Charles Leclerc will replace Kimi Raikkonen, but we can’t predict at the moment what his role will be, thus, we can’t predict if Sebastian Vettel will still hold his status as the only leader in a team. In addition to that, according to the Italian press, there is a possibility of Maurizio Arrivabene leaving Ferrari to become Juventus’ new general director.

So, what do we have in a sum – a new driver, perhaps a new team boss and a new strategy plan for development, but after all that changes could Ferrari become stronger and not vice versa? Or should they consider this year as a better opportunity to fight and win? A good question indeed.