[gmsabu]
Charles Leclerc says the fact Sebastian Vettel wasn’t involved in the fight at the front made it harder for him to win the Italian Grand Prix.
Vettel qualified fourth after failing to set a time on his final run in qualifying, then spun out of contention early in the race. Leclerc said he hadn’t seen his team mate’s error, but felt he had been unlucky not to set a time in Q3.
“Obviously it’s always an easier situation to have two cars instead of one,” he said. “But obviously yesterday Seb has been extremely unlucky, he couldn’t do the lap in the second run of Q3. But I’m pretty sure it will be better in the next races.”
Leclerc’s victory moved him ahead of his team mate in the championship. He has won the last two races ahead of the Mercedes drivers while Vettel has finished fourth in both. However Leclerc said he continues to rate Vettel’s ability very highly.“He’s definitely the more complete driver I’ve been in the same team with,” said Leclerc. “I’ve learnt a lot from Sebastian.
“He’s an amazing driver, very quick and he has a lot of experience too so the way he works is very methodical and very detailed.”
Ferrari’s first home victory for nine years was given a rapturous reception at Monza. Leclerc admitted he had been distracted by the crowd at times.
“In the last two laps I started to see in the grandstand that there was a lot of agitation. All the fans were jumping.
“I was telling myself ‘Charles. stop looking at the grandstand, look at the track, focus on what you are doing as a driver and then you’ll enjoy whatever there is outside’. But it was quite difficult to stay focused on driving, seeing how much movement there was in the grandstand.”
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ColdFly (@)
8th September 2019, 18:10
Maybe get Massa back ;)
Nick Wyatt (@nickwyatt)
8th September 2019, 18:15
No, according to your result page Ric finished fourth today and Vettel is shown in 13th.
Hugh (@hugh11)
8th September 2019, 18:19
Again: must be noted that this is in response to a question asking him this. He didn’t say it out of thin air
Also:
this made me laugh. The competition is fierce. Antonio Fuoco in F2 (lower formulas don’t really count imo as team standings aren’t as important as getting the most out of young drivers and giving them a platform), Marcus Ericsson, or Sebastian Vettel. Tough choice to choose the most complete driver of those guys.
Esploratore (@esploratore)
9th September 2019, 5:33
Indeed, I don’t agree at all either.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th September 2019, 18:19
Yes indeed, but unfortunately the ‘crash kid’ stroke again after a little while.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
8th September 2019, 19:02
Not sure where Vettel can go to after his contract expires, as he’ll be too expensive for small teams (if he would ever agree to go that route) and not good enough for the big teams. The midfield teams, like Renault and McLaren, seem set for the next few years so it would only be a question of retiring or going to other formulas, which I kind of doubt he’s interested in. I never felt Vettel is the kind of driver to mix it up outside of F1, like RAI or ALO.
roberto giacometti
9th September 2019, 7:30
Charles the Legend did not need Seb – he did it all by himself. We have a new King. Forza Charles and Forza Ferrari. Enzo and Gilles are looking down and smiling with serenity. The next darling of the Tifosi is with us .
wobs
9th September 2019, 8:55
Big Balls Leclerc, mega win, no way in hell Vettel would have withstood that pressure and won. It just shows how important a driver still is in modern F1.
RB13
9th September 2019, 13:03
After the qualifying spat and frosty eventual congratulations at the team photo, it’s clear these two are heading towards a fallout. Should be fun to watch.