Vettel ‘didn’t trust car’ after late off

2017 Italian Grand Prix

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Sebastian Vettel says that his Ferrari was affected by a handling issue in the closing stages of the Italian Grand Prix after running off track.

The Ferrari driver missed the Rettifilo Chicane on lap 40 and was forced to go through the escape route. Vettel says the unplanned excursion left him with a handling problem that afflicted him for the remainder of the race while he was being caught by Daniel Ricciardo.

“For today, after my off on lap 40, something was wrong with the car,” Vettel explains. “I didn’t trust the car – it was pulling to one side and I didn’t trust the car under braking anymore.

“I just tried to control the gap. I couldn’t push. Obviously braking here is immensely important so it’s a no-brainer that you’re losing something. But I had a gap and I just tried to keep it at the end and it worked, so that’s the most important thing.”

Despite having compromised handling on his Ferrari, Vettel admits that the team did not have the pace to compete against the Mercedes around Monza.

“I’m not happy but I think we can accept the result,” says Vettel. “We didn’t have the pace. It wasn’t so bad at the end of the stint with very used tyres. That’s not a surprise because I think we have seen that in the past. It was clear that they were quicker than us today.

“We did what we could and I think that’s what it’s about. The podium I think makes up for everything this weekend.”

After losing the lead in the drivers’ championship to Lewis Hamilton, Vettel is not losing confidence in his title chances for the remainder of the season.

“I like Singapore, I like the tracks that are coming up now, so we’ll see,” Vettel says. “Still a long way to go.

“It’s natural that sometimes you’ll take points and sometimes you’ll have less. The most important time you want to lead the championship is after the last race. Up to then, we need to do our best every single time and then count the points that we have.”

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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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10 comments on “Vettel ‘didn’t trust car’ after late off”

  1. Doesnt matter Sebastian, they destroyed us today. Move on

  2. Ferrari weak on the brakes, not a great sign for Singapore.

    1. After he went off…

    2. Really? I expect Ferrari to dominate Singapore but the Bulls might cause a few headaches.

      1. They said Mercedes would dominate Spa and it didn’t happen, don’t be so sure Ferrari will do the same at Singapore. By the way, Mercedes won 2 of the last 3 races there.

  3. Ferrari were so far off the pace this weekend, even Red Bull looked genuinely faster than them. Vettel was lucky that the bulls got penalties, but they might actually become a thorn in the eye come Singapore.

  4. I knew he went off based on lap timings but FOM feed never showed it…

    1. He missed T1 and that was the only clip of him leaving the track and that wasn’t bad enough to cause the damages that he’s talking about.

  5. That’s twice this year Seb’s Ferrari has had issues with the steering resulting in be pulling to the side.

    We’ve all had a car like that, right?

  6. Lucky boy his mistake didn’t cost him more. If Max didn’t have such a hot head and RIC hadn’t started further back Ferrari wouldn’t have been on the podium.

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