Well, I've looked up the stats, and they defy Nitrodaze's interpretation of last season.

Vettel led the standings 6 times, after Australia, Bahrain, China, Canada, Austria and Britain. He led for retrospectively 7, 17, 9, 1, 1 and 8pts.

If his biggest lead was 17pts after rd2 in Bahrain. Where was this decent gap Vettel built in the first half of the season? One where Hamilton supposedly had to look deep within his character and overcome all odds (despite driving the better car) to accomplish this incredible feat?

Also within the Aus-BritGP timeframe, Hamilton led the standings by as big as 17pts, only to lose it as well.