Sebastian woe – the mistakes that have cost Vettel in F1 title fight

Sebastian Vettel’s slim championship hopes were all but extinguished in Japan after he finished a lowly sixth as rival Lewis Hamilton took another dominant win.

Ferrari’s Vettel was running in fourth position before he collided with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and dropped to the back of the field.

Here, Press Association Sport looks back at the mistakes that have overshadowed his title challenge.

AZERBAIJAN

The Ferrari driver tried an ambitious move on Valtteri Bottas for the lead, but fell off the track and dropped two places from second to fourth.

FRANCE

Vettel crashed into Bottas at the opening corner of the Paul Ricard circuit. He sustained damage in the incident, fell down the pack, before recovering to fifth.

AUSTRIA

Vettel was penalised three grid places after he impeded Carlos Sainz in qualifying. Demoted to sixth he finished third.

GERMANY

He looked set to win his home race only to crash out in the rain. To make matters even worse, Hamilton won after starting 14th.

ITALY

Vettel spun out of contention after he tangled with Hamilton at the second chicane on the opening lap. His rival then swooped past Kimi Raikkonen in the closing stages to win on Ferrari’s home turf in Monza.

JAPAN

Ferrari put Vettel on the wrong tyres in qualifying before the German then ran off the track in damp conditions and qualified ninth. In the race, he collided with Verstappen to fall down the order and finished sixth.