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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.
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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
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
C. Sainz jr
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Replies (7)
Login to replywongrayw
Posts: 17
very simple, vettel, it does not wok just because of YOU.........if replace by alonso, it will work
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Though with Alonso, Ferrari might have pulled off a victory, strategy was perhaps little unnecessary.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Aggressive is a nice word for it. It was a stupid strategy.
f1ski
Posts: 726
Stupid is right Calle it seems that ferrari uses emotion when they should use the computer to decide what to do.
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.
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.
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.