Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Nurburgring, 2020

Vettel admits he ‘took too much risk’ after early spin

2020 Eifel Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by and

Sebastian Vettel admits he took “probably too much risk” after his early spin during the Eifel Grand Prix, which he said left him “stuck” for the rest of the race.

The Ferrari driver was attempting to pass Antonio Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo into turn one at the start of lap 11 when he lost control. The spin left him with flat-spotted tyres which forced the team to bring him in for an early pit stop.

Vettel admitted he had taken too much of a risk to try to find a way past his rival.

“We lost a position to the Alfa and then we got stuck,” said Vettel. “It was very, very difficult to pass, very difficult to follow.

“I was only really gaining in the very last part of the straight. So I think when I was crossing behind him, I lost the car in the wake. I need to have a look again but probably it was too much risk at the time.”

Vettel finished out of the points in 11th place. Ferrari opted to pit Vettel under the late Safety Car for fresh soft tyres, but he was again unable to find a way past Giovinazzi for the final place in the points.

“With the Safety Car, there was a chance for points, but it didn’t happen,” said Vettel.

“I think we were a little bit faster than where we were, but it was very tricky. So not the first race where we get stuck. Shame that we didn’t take any points away.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2020 Eifel Grand Prix

Browse all 2020 Eifel Grand Prix articles

27 comments on “Vettel admits he ‘took too much risk’ after early spin”

  1. He’s completely washed.

  2. Early spin, middle spin, late spin… it’s so Vettel-ish these days. Still he is a mile behind Leclerc.

    1. His stats are vastly better than Leclerc’s, aren’t they? So he must be so much better than Leclerc.

      This is only to prove how little meaning have numbers and stats.

      1. Silly comment.

        1. Not everybody can be as superhumanly brilliant as you

      2. Someone sounds like a Spin-Doctor.

      3. Ahahaha, these stats to argue vettel is better than leclerc are worse than the ones to say hamilton is better than schumacher! At least hamilton performs like a top 10 or better driver of all times, vettel I don’t even know if I’d put him in the top 50, surely for his red bull period but now…

  3. Aston Martin is thrilled to have him make #babystroll look great

  4. Vettel fan boys are making the excuse that vettel is just not motivated now that he is leaving. But look at Ricciardo he is leaving next year and still is giving his all to Renault, because Ricciardo ain’t no diva and has honor

    1. @carlosmedrano While I agree Ricciardo is doing a much better job than Vettel right now, to be fair to him there is a massive difference between the driver himself choosing to move to another team, and a long-term driver being unceremoniously dumped without even being consulted by his team. Vettel is well within his rights to be upset by that and the lack of respect and consideration shown by the Ferrari leadership is bound to have an affect on his performance, whether intentional by Vettel or not.

    2. @carlosmedrano , @keithedin
      Just like how Vettel got destroyed by Ricciardo in 2014. His fans also explained that it was because he just didn’t care anymore.

  5. I still feel like he’d be better off skipping the remainder of the season. (or the whole season after the Ferrari announcement) I hope he recovers his form next season. Verstappen, Alonso, Vettel and the McLaren drivers fighting for podiums would be some consolidation for another Mercedes dominance next season.

  6. He needs to retire. Obviously something has happened to his reflexes and co-ordination. He’s a shadow of that guy that won at Monza in 2008.

    Some athletes hit a wall early whether physical deterioration or mental.

    I don’t think Mark Webber was any worse than Bottas or Rosberg, so he was probably on Hamilton’s level (but not on Verstappen, Leclerc, Ricciardo’s level).

    1. Odd, I generally agree with you but I have a hard time saying verstappen or leclerc are superior to hamilton without having them in the same team, and even more so ricciardo, who I think is a slight step down.

      It’s a big claim to say vettel was at hamilton’s level with red bull, he was always error prone even back then, but maybe it’s not wrong considering even hamilton made mistakes when he was younger.

    2. In 2009 he crashed out of the points in three of the first 6 races. His lack of car control is hardly new.

    3. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      12th October 2020, 21:57

      We’ll see next year – maybe the joke will be on Ferrari:)

  7. Man, this guy spins a lot. Does someone have a site like there was for Maldonado?

    It is amazing.

    Not like Leclerc had a vastly better car, essentially going backwards from the start.

    The press might say, Vettel improved through out the race, unlike his young teammate, who was falling back from his starting position.

    I still wish to see a stat on Vettel race day spins.

  8. It’s bizarre how Vettel keeps battling with back markers, while Leclerc battles in the midfield.

    1. Clearly Leclerc is a faster qualifier. He has not really shown racecraft which would mean better finishes than starting spots. Staying out of trouble and moving forward.
      Vettle’s championships were in superior equipment and he is clearly un-motivated this year. He is also 10 years (or more?) older.
      Racing and outright speed are often 2 different things.

      1. Well yea, he is going backwards because he Ferrari is 50hp down on all the others in midfield, while his team mate qualifies with Alfas and Haas’es, hence its harder to notice. Renault, Mclaren and RP are simply faster card then Ferrari.

    2. Its obvious there are driving different cars. That’s plain to see
      Max and Albon have different cars. So does Norris and Sainz. Acknowledged by the teams themselves
      So what makes people think that both Ferrari drivers are driving the same cars? Just by looking at it, one would realized that Leclerc’ Ferrari have better power deployment and drivability than that of Vettel’s.
      Vettel’s car looks like a rebadged Alfa Romeo tbh

      1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
        12th October 2020, 21:52

        @blutto

        a rebadged Alfa Romeo tbh

        That’s what I’ve been referring to it as well. Although his car probably has some weight that shifts around and unbalances the car on corners and maybe even straights. It’s called a Binotto differential on account of the difference it makes when you drive without it.

        1. @blutto , @freelittlebirds Ha, ha, ha, hilarious. The excuse train is in full effect.

          Vettel has been unbalanced throughout his whole career. Even at Red Bull if he was under the slightest pressure he would fail.

          Put him in the fastest car with a mediocre team mate alone on a track and he’s “magnificent”. Put him under any threat and he spins or crashes. Give him a competent team mate and he drops like a brick.

          1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            14th October 2020, 17:17

            @f1osaurus I get the sense that you don’t like Vettel. There’s definitely truth in what you’re saying but I don’t believe that he’s so terrible that all he’ll do is spin and crash.

  9. He was released from BMW because they considered him incapable of driving consistently in any situation different from a clear track in front of him. How is that 13 years later the rest of the world still can’t see?

    1. Redbull took him into a race seat he was a reserve driver for BMW had a race to replace Kubica and scored his first point.

      In Formula BMW he had a clean sweep of wins might want to do a history check.

      1. Yes, starting from pole and driving on clear track most of them. Later in his career not being able to start on pole he struggled. Obviously BMW noticed something unusual since they evaluated him in traffic conditons and came to their conclusion.

Comments are closed.