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Something with Leclerc's performances is there that I am missing - Vettel

Published on 10 Aug 2020 16:33
8
By: Coilin Higgins

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel is unsure whether himself and teammate Charles Leclerc has the same car after another disappointing result at Sunday's 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.

In the opening five races so far, Leclerc has scored two podiums while former champion Vettel has struggled to finish in the points.

Speaking after Sunday's race, Vettel is unsure how Leclerc can perform much better in the car, believing Leclerc has gained something with the package that Vettel has yet to find in the car.

"I don't know," Vettel commented.

"Something is there that I am missing. I am not sure what it is but nevertheless, I get out of bed and try to do the best that I can

"For sure today we could have been higher up on my side. Obviously, with the spin, I'm not quite sure what happened there but also with strategy we could have recovered better.

"I think the main thing is that we don't have clean races from where we start and he had a couple of clean races"

Race strategy 'didn't make any sense'

Vettel also spoke about the strategy his team put him on for the race, which left him with little rubber towards the end of the race.

Vettel said the team did exactly what they planned not to do by releasing Vettel into other cars and that the overall strategy did not make any sense.

"We spoke this morning saying there was no point knowing that we will run into traffic and that's exactly what we did," Vettel said.

"We went also on the hard tyre, which we only had on for ten laps, probably not even that, so it didn't make any sense,

"Why would you put on the hard tyres for ten laps and the medium tyres for twenty laps? I was running out of tyres towards the end. So we spoke about exactly that.

"I guess not the best work we could have done today."

"I don't know," Vettel commented.

"Something is there that I am missing. I am not sure what it is but nevertheless, I get out of bed and try to do the best that I can

"For sure today we could have been higher up on my side. Obviously, with the spin I'm not quite sure what happened there but also with strategy we could have recovered better.

"I think the main thing is that we don't have clean races from where we start and he had a couple of clean races"

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527

Something is amiss, no doubt. And I don't think it is Seb's fault.

3
Aug 11 2020 - 12:30

F1 News Sebastian Vettel Charles Leclerc Ferrari

Replies (8)

siggy74

Posts: 194
Its not the car, its the hunger and drive and want for the win...

With kids and family and age.... Not so sure that the hunger to win at all costs is there...

This will be a painful end to the prancing horse relationship ;p
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- Aug 10 2020 - 18:45
- f1ski
  
  Posts: 726
  Couldn't agree more time age and subconsciously knowing you don't have control at the limit limit your speed. When lewis was told the blister would shed and he would be fine his response was so it won't blow up mid corner. He wouldn't question that 4 years ago
  + 0
  
  Aug 10 2020 - 22:06
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  I don't think that's a fair assessment. There is definitely no evidence that drivers get slower after having children. As for safety... I don't think these guys think too often about it these days.
  
  My two cents... Seb is clearly far from his peak, but even an off-peak Seb would be able to be very close to Charles. What's happened this season is baffling. I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but after seeing the major discrepancies in performance, and the messages on the radio, I think that there is something going on.
  + 1
  
  Aug 10 2020 - 22:21
- greatbigdong
  
  Posts: 53
  I don't think that is fair. I just think the car does not handle in a way Seb likes. We know he likes a really planted rear end - its why he did so well at red bull as they had the rear end so nicely sorted.
  
  I don't think it has anything to do with his age, having kids or his hunger to win. He still wants wins - but he needs a car that suits his specific driving style - as do most drivers. Usually a team can find a way to adjust the car to suit their driving style, but perhaps Ferrari are unable to do that. If I were to go with a conspiracy, I would say that Ferrari knew midway through last year that Seb was going to be booted from the team for some new blood and therefore did not take his feedback into account when designing this car and more so aimed it how Leclerc likes his car. Just the same as how they designed the car around Seb when they had Raikkonen or red bull did when they had seb and mark webber.
  + 2
  
  Aug 11 2020 - 08:42
f1ski

Posts: 726
If seb steps aside look for hulkenberg to step in
- + 0
- Aug 10 2020 - 23:21
Alonzo

Posts: 66
Seb lost it a long time ago... he is the only driver that keeps spinning out on his own, those days where he has the best car on the grid and a mediocre partner with red bull are long gone.... in 2018 he had the car and just couldn't do it.. he should probably at least take a sabbatical... if not retire... This is not new, Leclerc started beating him his first year with Ferrari (second in F1), that probably just messed him up...
- + 1
- Aug 11 2020 - 03:04
calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Something is amiss, no doubt. And I don't think it is Seb's fault.
- + 3
- Aug 11 2020 - 12:30
Kean

Posts: 692
My two cents: I think Seb is an outstanding driver when he has a car that suits his style. I don't think he's like Alonso in that Alonso can take a dud of a car and get it into the points. Mark Webber said that Seb is like a computer with is accuracy, and I don't think that has deteriorated to such a degree that Seb i solely responsible for his bad results.
I don't think that Ferrari ever really managed to build a car around Seb, and they noticed that the car they were able to produce suited Leclerc better, hence the shift in focus to Leclerc last year. I also believe that the atmosphere at Ferrari doesn't suit Sebs sensebilities. I'm thinking back to Alonso's fall out with Ferrari, where everybody were quick to blame Alonso for being toxic. Well I think Sebs situation shows that Ferrari were equally to blame for the Alonso fall out. It can't be a good feeling driving for a team that doesn't want him there anymore, they even took his name of the jacket. In the words of Horner: "That's a bit harsh". I think they should do a switcharoo between him and Perez. Or Seb should sit out the rest of the season and let Wehrlein drive (if he still has a superlicence).
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- Aug 11 2020 - 13:18