Sebastian Vettel denies he is becoming frustrated by his win-less streak which dates back to last year’s Belgian Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver has come close to winning several times since then, most notably at the last race in Canada where a five-second time penalty handed victory to Lewis Hamilton. He said he’s “not frustrated” by the situation as he does not believe he had a chance to win many of those races.“I think it’s not like we had 15 races to win and we didn’t win, then I’d be frustrated,” he said. “Obviously we did the best we could.
“This year arguably we could have had two shots so far. One [where] Charles [Leclerc] controlled the race and I was also there in that race and the other one [Canada].
“I think it all depends looking back. But generally with the races I’ve had, obviously you always think that you could do a bit more here and there, but as I say it’s not like we [could have] dominated the last 15 races.”
Vettel admitted his defeat in Canada stemmed from a mistake made under pressure, but pointed out Hamilton had made unforced errors during the race.
“I tried everything to stay on track,” he said. “Obviously I was under pressure, I was pushing as hard as I could I don’t think we had the same pace. I think if Lewis was ahead in that race he would have controlled his pace and done like the other six races before. We weren’t easy to pass because we had an advantage down the straights.
“Fortunately Lewis made some mistakes in the hairpin every time he was a bit close. You can argue I did the mistake at the wrong place on the track, if I’d done it at the hairpin for example I’d’ve just lost time. In that case obviously I lost a bit more time because I had to go through the grass.”
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Todfod (@todfod)
21st June 2019, 7:58
Sebastian should be frustrated. Over the past 15 races, there have been at least 6 or 7 races where Ferrari had a good shot at the win, and he’s not been able to seal the deal. Heck, Kimi got a win and Charles would have had one as well if it wasn’t for an engine failure. He should be more upset with the fact that the Ferrari #2 drivers have looked better than him for the past season.
I also don’t understand why he’s trying to justify his error in Canada by saying Lewis made errors behind him. At the end of the day, Lewis didn’t go off the circuit and lose the race.
Foggy
21st June 2019, 8:24
Are lock up’s really classed as mistakes.
Chaitanya
21st June 2019, 8:43
Vettel is best as Whataboutism. Quite surprising even after subpar performance in 2nd half of 2018(If I remember correctly Max outscored Vettel in that half) and his tendency to embarrass the team frequently he has managed to keep his seat in Limping Donkeys when driver like Prost was kicked out just because he called his car a truck and that is nothing what Vettel dishes out this team on a regular basis.
Witan
21st June 2019, 9:33
Vettet on TV yesterday looked rather haunted. He smiled at some questions and said ask the team about new evidence. But he didn’t look like a man coming almost straight from his wedding and now enjoying some domestic harmony.
I think he knows that according to the rules he was caught, as they say, ‘banged to rights’.
And I doubt he would be happy to think Ferrari were trying to win after the race by using power politics. He is a real racer, after all, the post race tantrum and support of Hamilton, oddly enough, proving it.
Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
21st June 2019, 15:36
First I wish him a happy and long marriage. I don’t like the decision and I think the winner should be decided on track. Regardless, he made a mistake and it cost him. Of course he is frustrated, he is a 4 time world champion. You don’t become one by not wanting to win.