Sebastian Vettel has responded to his critics after suffering his fourth spin in 10 races during the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver spun while being passed by Lewis Hamilton, who went on to win the race. Hamilton later defended his rival’s record, saying he’s “had stunning performances that far more outweigh the weaker races and when he’s spun, for example.”Told in China yesterday about Hamilton’s words, Vettel said: “I think maybe he’s the only one that doesn’t lack a short-term memory.”
“We’ve been around a long time and obviously as much as I want to beat Lewis I think he wants to beat me. But sometimes you never know exactly what’s going on with other people in their teams and so on unless you are racing them in the same team, then you know a bit more. Sometimes things might not go your way but I think when you don’t understand exactly or you don’t know then I think it’s very difficult to say much about certain things.
“But I also know any understand that these days people’s judgement don’t go further than a week, forward or backward. So I think it’s part of the life. I didn’t know that he’d said anything nice but it’s nice to hear.”
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto also defended his driver following his spin in Bahrain.
“I don’t think we should discuss about mistakes,” he said. “We are always in the battle, in the fight. That’s what they are doing, it’s never easy. I think at the end it’s something that may always happen.
“We need to encourage our drivers because it’s only by driving to the limit that they can achieve the best results. And [that] is what Seb was trying to do.”
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Didi
12th April 2019, 6:03
Vettels a nice guy but I feel this year is going to be his last in the sport…
Jere (@jerejj)
12th April 2019, 10:38
@Didi He’s contracted till the end of 2020, so more likely then than at the end of this season.
Didi
12th April 2019, 22:03
Contracts mean nothing if you want out!
Oxnard (@montalvo)
12th April 2019, 13:26
And the first comment proves Sebastians point.
Didi
13th April 2019, 2:48
See above as your first lesson in negotiations…
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
12th April 2019, 6:37
:D I don’t even think he’s a nice guy. Nice guys don’t make good world champions.
In F1 you are only as good as your last race. And now Vettel has a string of not so good races. His Championship winning count for little when his teammate was faster than him last race and he spun, while racing his arch rival.
In F1 you always need to prove yourself, but such is life is it not? We always need to prove we are still any good.
In F1 the standards are so high, that even one mistake over many laps is enough for you to be considered no longer any good.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
12th April 2019, 6:43
When was Hockenheim last year? July? He only won one race since then. The same.number as Kimi Raikkonen who he mopped the floor with during their time together in the team. He’s been scruffy. Car problems or not, sportsmen get those low moments in their careers, even the best of them.
Besides, if you want to use your memory, I guess we all agree that SV isn’t the best under serious pressure…
Jere (@jerejj)
12th April 2019, 10:35
@fer-no65 Yes, and July 22nd to be precise. July 28th this year.
Rahim.RG
12th April 2019, 6:48
This year i feel we are going to see his real strength. This is the year where he will have to get out of his comfort zone. I feel what he achieves this year is going to show us how strong he actually is.
Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
12th April 2019, 7:01
Good point.
Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
12th April 2019, 7:10
Well he isn’t totally wrong. Everyone praised Bottas after Australia and yet now, I don’t hear any. It is true that you are as good as your last race.
Chaitanya
12th April 2019, 7:28
And yet Bottas was criticized for being a no. 2 driver last year all the way until the end of Australian GP. So when it comes to criticism people dont forget the mistakes and remember much longer.
ColdFly (@)
12th April 2019, 7:46
After a week his mo is still there to be judged ;)
Joao (@johnmilk)
12th April 2019, 11:23
and that’s why he keeps making mistakes week in week out. So that we can’t forget
Todfod (@todfod)
12th April 2019, 7:52
I don’t think people are judging Vettel on a week to week basis. Actually, people have been judging him since his amateurish mistake in Germany last year… which would be around 7 months ago. Since then, he’ pretty much binned a world championship and taken only one race win! he’s been making mistakes under pressure, and even been outperformed by the Ferrari #2 drivers. He might console himself with the belief that he’s only as good or bad as his last race weekend, but the truth is he’s had a massive streak of poor performances, and that’s what he’s actually being judged on.
Jere (@jerejj)
12th April 2019, 10:36
@todfod 9 months ago actually.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
12th April 2019, 7:57
Thank god Vettel is not someone who wastes his time with social media.
Todfod (@todfod)
12th April 2019, 10:45
@kingshark
His time would be better spent improving his wheel to wheel racing
Lee H (@stopitrawr)
12th April 2019, 8:00
Ok Seb, long term memory time!
Remember Canada 2011? Dry line on an otherwise damp track, little opportunity to overtake because of this, and Vettel was literally scared off the track by a charging Jenson Button.
There are numerous cases where under pressure, Vettel cracks. The last spin is indicative of a driver who is imperious in clear air, but makes too many mistakes under the cosh.
There is no question that Vettel is a great world champion, and a great driver overall, but without question struggles more than the likes of Hamilton, Alonso, Schumacher, and even Kimi when it comes to handling severe pressure. I don’t think it’s “short term memory” to point this out.
macaque (@macaque)
12th April 2019, 10:37
Turkey 2010 also comes to mind, even though there he made a mistake because he was over-confident.
magon4 (@magon4)
12th April 2019, 15:29
it’s funny how we forget all the times he didn’t crack and only remember those where he did.
dawaxor
12th April 2019, 9:57
The only reason people are critizing him for the error in Bahrain is because everyone remembers the errors he has made in the last two years. He isn’t rated as high anymore because of these driving errors and his performance against Ricciardo 5 years ago.
And he’s talking about people’s memory.
José Lopes da Silva
12th April 2019, 12:49
Criticism of Vettel is getting a little bit out of control. It’s natural, as there were always some questions regarding is Red Bull days, but this is getting quite ahead.
Schumacher was a classic driver crashing under pressure, like when it was mentioned the chance of Senna going to Benetton, in Adelaide/94 (race and also practice!), in Jerez 1997, in Suzuka 1998 when he stalled in the grid, or in Suzuka 2003 when he surpassed Fangio’s record with a terrible performance. In 2006, his crash in Australia and stupidity in Monaco (2 wins for Alonso) are seldom reminded to explain why did he loose the title.
Maybe Vettel should have ensured Schumacher treatment while going to Ferrari? Like getting 3 new parts while Irv… Kimi gets none? Schumacher never faced a team-mate moving in front of him like Kimi did to Vettel at the start of Monza 2018.