Is 2020 the end of the F1 road for Vettel?

So is Vettel on a similar exit trajectory? Will the rise of Leclerc at Maranello see him depart Ferrari and move to a midfield team? The difference between the two drivers appears to be that Alonso continues to have an enduring love for motorsport and an unquenchable thirst for competition: you can imagine him as a pensioner, racing walking frames up and down the hallways of his retirement home.

©Ferrari

You simply don't get that sense from Vettel. There have been moments in recent seasons where it almost felt possible to see Vettel consciously trying to reignite the steely determination that came so naturally to him in his teens and early twenties, only for it to blow up in his face. Last year alone we saw him pressured into a costly mistake by Hamilton in Canada, have a distracting row with the Ferrari pit wall when he refused to follow team orders in Russia, and a costly clash with Leclerc in Brazil which resulted in both cars retiring from points-paying positions.

Vettel is struggling to maintain that icy killer instinct that once came so naturally to him

Previously in 2018 there had been a most uncharacteristic error when he spun out of the lead in wet conditions at his home race, and the year before that there was that astounding red mist moment when he deliberately banged tyres with Hamilton in Baku and then flatly denied it ever happened for weeks after. It all rather suggests that Vettel is struggling to maintain that icy killer instinct that once came so naturally to him and which is now the preserve of the likes of Leclerc and Max Verstappen.

At the end of the day, of all the drivers on the grid Vettel seems the one most willing and happy to turn his back on the world of motor racing and head home to his family. There's a sense that Vettel is as content with a well-executed piece of kitchen DIY or achieving perfectly crisp borders on the front lawn as he is with any bit of death-defying overtaking he's ever accomplished in all his years in the day job.

It's perhaps telling that last month in Melbourne, he was on a plane flying back to Europe even before the formal decision to abandon the Australian Grand Prix had been taken. He had already weighed up his options, and the need to be back home with his family at a time of global crisis came out well ahead of a mere motor race. That's by no means a criticism of the man: indeed, it's the hallmark of a grounded, well-balanced individual with a full and happy life. But equally that's not the profile of a world champion who needs to be relentless, ruthless, obsessive and utterly selfish in the pursuit of their racing ambitions. Just ask Rosberg what the personal toll of such a sustained effort can take on one's mental well-being.