Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene praised Sebastian Vettel’s drive to victory in the British Grand Prix following his neck trouble during the race weekend.
Vettel sat out the final laps of the third practice session on Saturday morning due to the problem with his neck. He received physiotherapy on it and was able to take part in qualifying.He drove the 51-lap race with his next strapped up to ease the strain on it. Vettel took the lead at the start of the race and took victory after passing Valtteri Bottas, who got in front of him during a Safety Car period.
“I’m happy first of all for the team,” Arrivabene told Channel 4. “Starting from Mattia [Binotto], the technical director, together with the other guys in Maranello. He put on the ground a very good car.”
“And the credit that goes to this guy together with Sebastian that today was running like a lion with the pain he got on the neck.”
Ferrari’s win means the leading teams have taken one win in each of the three races in the past three weekends. However Arrivabene said there will be no rest for the team on the first day after the ‘triple header’ tomorrow:
“Tomorrow morning we have the debrief for the race and we are working,” he said. “This is the best was to keep people focused and concentrated.”
Vettel’s win gives him an eight-point lead over Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ championship. Ferrari now leads Mercedes by 20 points in the teams’ standings.
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Phylyp (@phylyp)
8th July 2018, 17:17
So Vettel with a strapped-up neck avoids collisions at the start, and executes clean wheel-to-wheel racing? Maybe that needs to become SOP :-)
javier javier (@j3d89)
9th July 2018, 2:45
what you mean with SOP ? have no idea.. thanks
Phylyp (@phylyp)
9th July 2018, 4:44
“Standard Operating Procedure” @j3d89
Jere (@jerejj)
8th July 2018, 17:27
LOL. BTW; ”51-lap race” – 52 actually.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
8th July 2018, 17:37
Haha.
I mis-read the headline as if it were an insult: “Vettel drove like a lion with a sore neck”
Rather than a compliment: “Vettel drove like a lion, what with that sore neck”.
hyoko
8th July 2018, 19:21
Sore neck or not, since when are lions allowed to drive?
BMF66
9th July 2018, 2:55
Wolf said the same about Hamilton. Must be in the PR remit for today. Robots.
MG1982 (@mg1982)
9th July 2018, 6:50
True that. Wolf must go to the Zoo ASAP, the lion is blonde, not half-black. I don’t know, could have compared him with a zebra… chased by a lion.