Sebastian Vettel stands in front of the Scuderia Ferrari. Photo: Srdjan Suki
(Photo: dpa)
“The team did a great job, it was down to me,” emphasized the four-time Formula 1 world champion in the paddock of Monte Carlo. “I’m not going to jump off the bridge, though,” he added with a smirk.
Ferrari has not won in Monaco since 2001, when Schumacher won. The Scuderia has been waiting for the driver’s title in the Formula 1 World Championship since 2007, when Kimi Raikkonen won the world championship.
At the classic in Monaco, the Finn retired through his own fault, Vettel missed the podium in fourth place. Overall, Räikkönen did not finish twice, he was second twice, third once, fifth once. Vettel’s record for 2016: once he didn’t even start, once he was eliminated, once second, twice third, once fourth.
“There is no need to panic, the car is fast. All in all, nothing is wrong,” affirmed Vettel. But it’s not enough to win like Red Bull in Spain or to fight for victory in Monaco. After all, Ferrari entered this season with the aim of also having a say in the title fight. “The season is still very long,” emphasized team boss Maurizio Arrivabene. 15 races to come. “Giving up isn’t in Ferrari’s DNA,” said the Italian, who is feeling some pressure. Boss Sergio Marchionne wants to see success.
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Ferrari’s biggest problem are the qualifications. Maximum second row, more was not possible so far. “If we get the result we need on Saturday, our results on Sunday will be better too,” said Vettel.
Just as Red Bull is doing, his former team. When the two Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg retired in Spain after a collision, Max Verstappen was there. In Monte Carlo, only the messed up pit stop prevented pole man Ricciardo from winning. In the world championship standings, the Australian has passed his former Red Bull competitor Vettel (5th/60) and is third (66 points) behind world championship leader Rosberg (106) and defending champion Hamilton (82).
Ricciardo will also recover from what he said felt like he’d been hit by a truck for the second time by the next race in Canada. In Barcelona the team had put his faith in a different strategy, he could have won there too.
All the more Vettel has to be careful of the Red Bull drivers in Canada, especially since Verstappen also wants to make amends after his crash in Monte Carlo. The Dutchman gets the new, more powerful Renault engine installed in Montréal. Ricciardo drove it in Monte Carlo, where performance is not that important. In just under two weeks at the latest it will be clear whether Vettel can really still look ahead, or whether it would be better to be very careful who could appear big in his rear-view mirror.
