There were signs that Sebastian Vettel’s spell with Ferrari wouldn’t end up being as fruitful as hoped during just his second season with them.
The 2016 campaign would arguably end up being the worst that he would go through during the entire decade. It was one of two seasons where he failed to win a Formula 1 race.
It wasn’t exactly Vettel’s fault, though, as Ferrari’s poor development, combined with a slow engine, couldn’t put their drivers in a position to beat the dominant Mercedes.
That all changed with the new regulations for 2017, but only after enduring 12 months of frustration and heartache.
Vettel entered talks to join Mercedes for 2018, which might have changed the course of history, but it never happened, with Ferrari competitive enough by then to convince him to stay.
Sebastian Vettel claimed two seagulls ‘distracted’ him from 2016 Canadian Grand Prix battle with Lewis Hamilton
The closest Vettel came to winning a race in 2016 was the Canadian Grand Prix, where Ferrari had demonstrated impressive pace.
The four-time champion got a heroic jump off the start, leading into turn one, before a fascinating strategy battle unfolded.
It would culminate in him chasing Lewis Hamilton down for victory, but an untimely mistake cost him the chance for glory when two seagulls appeared on the race track.
“It was pretty hard to keep Lewis out of the DRS until a couple of laps in,” he said in the post-race press conference. “I was a bit distracted — we chatted about it, and I have to mention it – there were two seagulls, I think they were a couple who wanted to commit suicide!
“They were at the apex of turn one, so I saw them, and I just went wide into turn one. Lewis obviously didn’t care, so made up quite a bit of time, half a second, but I didn’t do the couple that favour to maybe say goodbye for good.
“So by the time Lewis came round, they changed their mind and flew off! It wasn’t fair. I brake for animals, Lewis doesn’t!”
How did the rest of Sebastian Vettel’s 2016 F1 season pan out?
Vettel would follow his second place in Canada up with one at the inaugural European Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan.
It meant he had finished on the podium in five of the first eight races, and probably would have done in Bahrain without a pre-race engine failure, and in Russia without Daniil Kvyat spearing into him.
The rest of the campaign from there would be quite miserable, reaching the podium twice in 13 races, as Red Bull developed their car better.
He was consistent enough to finish fourth in the standings, slightly better off than he was during a winless 2014 campaign, albeit with better reliability this time around.
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