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Vettel upset by Ferrari's aggressive strategy

Published on 16 Sep 2018 17:16
7
By: Fergal Walsh

Sebastian Vettel has admitted his displeasure with Ferrari's strategy at the Singapore Grand Prix. The German was forced to settle for third place, despite overtaking Red Bull's Max Verstappen on the opening lap of the race.

Vettel was the first of the top drivers to come into the pitlane, getting rid of his hyper softs and attaching the ultra softs. However, he rejoined the circuit behind the Force India of Sergio Perez and lost time to both Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

Hamilton pitted one lap after Vettel and managed to stay ahead, but Verstappen stayed out three laps longer and set strong lap times in clean air. Along with being held up by the Force India, Vettel lost track time and found himself behind Verstappen when the Dutchman made his pit stop.

"We tried to be aggressive in the beginning and obviously it didn't work out. With the way we raced today we didn't have a chance. I said before the weekend we could only beat ourselves and I think today we didn't get everything out of our package."

Vettel now sits 40 points behind Hamilton in the standings, and has called on Ferrari to find out why it didn't have the pace throughout the weekend: "It was pretty obvious what we tried to do and it didn't work. It was clear we were not fast enough in the race, we need to understand why."

But Vettel has not lost any faith in the Maranello outfit despite it being the second time in two rounds that he has questioned the strategy of the team: "The decisions we took in the race, to try and be aggressive, were to try and win the race and when it works it's great," Vettel said.

"But overall we had a very strong package, both Kimi and myself looked very competitive throughout practice, but in the end the race result we finished third and fifth. Like yesterday, not where the speed of our car belongs. That's what I mean when I said we didn't get everything out of ourselves."

Fergal Walsh

F1 News Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Sebastian Vettel Sergio Perez Ferrari Force India

Replies (7)

wongrayw

Posts: 17
very simple, vettel, it does not wok just because of YOU.........if replace by alonso, it will work
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- Sep 16 2018 - 17:36
- mcbhargav
  
  Posts: 1,332
  Though with Alonso, Ferrari might have pulled off a victory, strategy was perhaps little unnecessary.
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  Sep 17 2018 - 07:22
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Aggressive is a nice word for it. It was a stupid strategy.
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- Sep 16 2018 - 17:55
f1ski

Posts: 726
Stupid is right Calle it seems that ferrari uses emotion when they should use the computer to decide what to do.
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- Sep 16 2018 - 18:47
ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475
It's a bit early to say it, but I think that for the second year in a row, Sebastián and Ferrari threw away the championship. This year more than last year, because there have been more mistakes, and because Ferrari has had the best car most of the year. I think we're also starting to see the cracks in the relationship between Sebastián and the team.
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- Sep 17 2018 - 01:08
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Nah, I kinda think its safe to say it now. For them to have a chance, Hammy basically need to crash out or otherwise retire, something that could happen but I find it unlikely.
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  Sep 17 2018 - 05:42
jaybee

Posts: 16
Except, as fans will remember, in 2010, Alonso had an 8-point lead over Vettel going into the final race in Abu Dhabi but a strategic error by his Ferrari team cost him his third title.
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- Sep 17 2018 - 12:20