Vettel quarrels, although he ends the balance of horror
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Formula One F1 – Turkish Grand Prix – Istanbul Park, Istanbul, Turkey – November 15, 2020 Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel celebrates after finishing the race in third place Pool via REU…TERS / Kenan Asyali
Source: Pool via REUTERS
That was hardly to be expected after this Formula 1 season: Sebastian Vettel is on the podium for the first time in his Ferrari and is also voted driver of the day. But the German is not entirely satisfied.
SSebastian Vettel was even angry a tiny bit. “Maybe we should have dared and pulled on the dry tires,” said the 33-year-old and brooded on. There they were again, Vettel’s ambition and lust for battle, awakened and revived by the first podium place this year. More precisely: since Vettel’s second place on October 27, 2019 at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City. “Of course it’s nice after the long dry spell,” commented Vettel on his third place on Sunday at the Formula 1 slide in Istanbul.
The 121st podium in his career should belong in the memorable category, regardless of 53 Grand Prix victories and four world championship titles. In the fourth last race of his unsuccessful mission at Ferrari, Vettel took advantage of a driving error made by his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who was ten years his junior, on the last meters of the Turkish Grand Prix. Shortly before the checkered flag, he moved behind the new record world champion Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes and Sergio Pérez from Racing Point.
“I think I was a little too conservative when the track dried out. I should have attacked more ”, Vettel quarreled a little despite the apparent joy of his performance:“ Maybe a little more would have been possible otherwise. ”The rain forecast for the final laps kept Vettel from changing tires again. For his race to catch up from 11th place on the grid he was voted driver of the day by the fans.
“Squeeze everything out of the car”
Third place was by far the best result of the year for the 33-year-old native of Hesse. He finished sixth in Hungary, seventh in Spain, plus four tenth places. In seven races Vettel did not make it into the top ten, twice he did not even reach the finish line.
A balance of horror for someone who wanted to start an era with Ferrari, as his great idol Michael Schumacher had once done with Scuderia. Own mistakes, team mistakes, plus a car that simply can’t keep up with the Mercedes. But one thing is not: “I did not doubt that I could still achieve a good result.”
Inspired by his appearance under the most difficult conditions, Vettel now wants to “squeeze everything out of the car that can only be squeezed out” in the last three races for Ferrari. It should be a dignified farewell on the home straight before he wants to start again for Aston Martin in the coming year and celebrate more often on the podium again.
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