A vehicle control apparatus for a vehicle includes a monitoring sensor and a brake apparatus. The vehicle control apparatus determines whether a pre-preceding vehicle is present in front of a preceding vehicle in front of an own vehicle in a vehicle advancing direction. In response to the pre-preceding vehicle is determined to be present in front of the preceding vehicle, the vehicle control apparatus compares a first required deceleration required to cause the own vehicle to travel to follow the preceding vehicle based on a monitoring result of the monitoring sensor and a second required deceleration required to cause the own vehicle to travel to follow the pre-preceding vehicle based on a monitoring result of the monitoring sensor, and controls the brake apparatus to bring deceleration of the own vehicle closer to the second required deceleration in response to the second required deceleration being greater than the first required deceleration.