Vettel in crisis as Italian media turn on him

Questions are being asked by Italian media about Sebastian Vettel in the wake of the Malaysian Grand Prix where the four times world champion made a rookie error and was eliminated, in Turn 1, on the opening lap of the race.

After making a good start, Vettel braked too late diving into the first turn at Sepang, the Ferrari tagging both Nico Rosberg ahead of him and Max Verstappen to his left.

Race stewards investigated the incident and deemed it to be Vettel's fault and penalised him with a three place grid penalty for the forthcoming Japanese Grand Prix.

Vettel's antics - not the first time he has been involved in costly first lap scuffles this year - triggered stern criticism from the Italian media who are starting to question the German's value to the team amid Red Bull's resurgence.

Most of the major sports sections in the leading Italian newspapers are asking the same question: "Whats going on with Vettel?"

Corriere della Sera quoted Niki Lauda after the race, "Vettel is in crisis, when Verstappen did this at Spa we called him a madman, now Vettel did the same thing. The error was Vettel's who cost the team important points on the day."

The report added: "Vettel made a mistake in Malaysia and it is not the first this season. There is a problem. As always the first step to solving it is to acknowledge the problem and stop the talk of bad luck."

"Is it a real crisis? It clearly is and coincides with the resurgence of Red Bull. Significantly the points scored by the drivers of the two teams since the Austrian Grand Prix are as follows: Ricciardo 116, Verstappen 93, Raikkonen 79, Vettel 57."

La Repubblica asked in an editorial: "Has Maranello destroyed the highest paid driver in Ferrari history, or has Vettel lost his talent and speed?"

Corriere dello Sport wrote: "Sad to see that Vettel does not accept the responsibility for his actions."

La Gazzetta dello Sport suggested that the crisis was multi-faceted: "Sebastian is in a crisis, but it is also the fault of Ferrari".

Meanwhile Ferrari team chief Maurizio Arrivabene said after the race at Sepang, "Clearly, this was not the result we had wanted. In a very tactical race like the one we had, having both cars on track would have been of fundamental importance."

"As for Seb’s incident at the start, I talked to him and I’d rather not comment on the stewards’ decision," added the team boss.