Vettel denies Ferrari sandbagging in Spain

  • Published on 12 May 2018 13:21
  • comments 0
  • By: Fergal Walsh

Sebastian Vettel has denied that Ferrari is "hiding the game" in Barcelona. Ferrari has seemed the fastest car overall in 2018, but in practice for the Spanish Grand Prix Mercedes and Red Bull were apparently ahead.

"I think everything is close, but I don't know what Ferrari's pace is," said world champion Lewis Hamilton. "They're probably hiding the game or something."

When asked about the Mercedes driver's allegation, Vettel insisted: "No. You always want to know where you are by going as fast as you can. The truth is that the car isn't there yet. We can be better. But what we brought here seems to have worked," the German added.

Vettel ended up in P3 and P4 in both practice sessions, as Ferrari appeared to lack pace to its rivals. Conditions were tricky for the drivers, and Vettel hopes that Saturday brings a spring in pace for the Scuderia team.

"Everything we put on the car seems to work and that’s important. I think the biggest change that has been made is on the tyres, which seem to be quite different. I don’t think they are better than before. As for the changes you saw with the rearview mirrors, it is no big deal.

"Before, it was quite difficult for us to look at the cars behind. Now they are in a better position and I can see a little bit better below the rear wing. If you trust your car, there is no reason to try to push over the limit at this stage. Let’s hope we have the same trust as in Baku where I could get everything out of the car when I had to. Today it was quite slippery and gusty and it was a mixed day. We can still work on the car and I think we should be stronger tomorrow.”

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