Vettel: ‘I tried everything to win’

2016 Canadian Grand Prix

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Sebastian Vettel says he tried ‘absolutely everything’ to win the Canadian Grand Prix after he finished the race second to Lewis Hamilton.

The Ferrari driver led at the start, but finished behind Hamilton’s Mercedes after he was unable to convert a two-stop strategy into victory.

“I’m trying,” says Vettel. “I know that behind me is not some joker.

“Lewis was wanting to come back after the start and pushing very hard. And I know he has similar pace and I am trying everything.”

Vettel pushed hard to chase down an eight second gap to Hamilton after his second stop, but a series of lock ups and running through the chicane on a handful of occasions kept the Ferrari adrift of the Mercedes.

“I was very close to the walls,” says Vettel. “I was happy to take that risk, because otherwise what’s the point in going around keeping margin, keeping margin – it’s boring.

“We’re here to push. You feel a lot more alive when you get close to the walls – it’s very exciting. If you manage to come out on top of it, without brushing the walls, you feel so much better. I tried absolutely everything – arguably here and there, a bit too much – but we wanted to win.”

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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13 comments on “Vettel: ‘I tried everything to win’”

  1. Good attitude, fair play.

    1. Yeah it’s great attitude and fun to watch as well.

  2. RB (@frogmankouki)
    13th June 2016, 0:15

    Really liking the change in Seb since moving to Ferrari. This post race clip with Lewis, as they talk about seagulls in turn one, is hilarious. https://streamable.com/q5xd It’s a shame we don’t get to see more driver interaction like this, it sure adds depth to the drivers and the sport.

    1. Thanks for the link. I agree, this is sort of informal interviews are great.

    2. Yeah, that was awesome. Loved the banter between them while they were getting ready to head up to the podium as well. They really seemed to appreciate racing each other, & were very complimentary. I love the way these guys… Alonso & Ricciardo as well, seem to relish an honest-to-goodness battle. Seb’s positive attitude bodes well for the rest of the season also, IMO. He seems to very much fancy his chances this year. That to me suggests the Ferrari is very good, & I’m really looking forward to that battle between him & Lewis on a regular basis. I wasn’t a huge fan of Vettel while he was at Red Bull… thought the car flattered him, & felt like I was correct about him after Ricciardo beat him too, but I’m certain now I was quite wrong. I feel there’s very little between those four guys… Verstappen is darn close, & will be there very soon. Rosberg too is quite close, but has this tendency to completely unravel when things go awry, & lacks a bit of fight compared to those. All this is just my humble opinion, but I’m getting really excited for the rest of the season. Really hoping RBR keep their momentum up… What I wanna see is a proper 4-6 way fight at the pointy end of the grid every weekend. I’m a Hamilton fan, but give me that & I could care less who won in the end.

    3. That interview is pure gold. There should be more interaction between drivers outside the race.

  3. Vettel could really be/have been in the title hunt if he hadn’t been crashed out by Kvyat in Russia and if his team had made some better strategy calls. With Ros/Ham taking points off each other and the engine upgrades it may still be to play for but should they fall just short at the end of the season they’ll look back at some of these races I think as a missed opportunity. Obviously not the crash since it wasn’t his fault

  4. I think Seb enjoyed that race, pushing for lots of it, getting close to walls at high speed and stamping on the brakes as late as he dared. Bit of a novelty for raceday in today’s F1!

  5. Vettel is impressing me. The maturity I see in Vettel is similar to the growth that Alonso has had since leaving
    McLaren the first time. I would love to see a Vettel vs Verstappen battle for the title next year. Very possible considering the trajectory of development on the Red Bull and Ferrari. I’m beginning to like all these characters now. So much so that the hate for drivers baffles me.

  6. Vettel “I tried everything to win”

    Maybe he should try KEEPING IT ON TRACK, he makes mistakes that no real WDC should. Off track chasing Hamilton in Australia, Crashed into his teammate in China, Off track(cut chicane) several times in Canada.

  7. Ferrari certainly didn’t make things easier for him on the strategy front..

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