Ferrari's Friday struggles the 'same as the last few races' - Vettel

  • Published on 29 Nov 2019 19:33
  • comments 0
  • By: Dieter Rencken & Fergal Walsh

Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari's struggles on Friday in Abu Dhabi is a repetition of what it has been hampered by in recent races.

Vettel's FP1 session ended when he spun in the final sector and tapped the wall, causing Ferrari to perform a precautionary gearbox change. 

In FP2, Vettel was four-tenths of a second away from the pace laid down by the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, who topped the two practice sessions on Friday at the Yas Marina Circuit.

Vettel pointed out that Ferrari is mostly struggling in the final sector, where it is lacking downforce compared to Mercedes and Red Bull

"We're pretty much fighting the same thing as the last few races, all these medium, low-speed type of corners, we are lacking speed compared to the others," Vettel said.

"We're not as quick. I think sector three is where it really hurts us, we're struggling with the tyres and getting them hot. The car is difficult to drive, but I'm sure when you drive any car on the limit, any car will be difficult to drive.

"We'll try our best to have a solid improvement on the set up that we have and then see if we have something to fight with on Sunday."

'Not much more to understand' in Brazil crash

Last time out at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Vettel retired from the grand prix after he made contact with teammate Charles Leclerc.

The pair were called to Maranello for a meeting, where the incident was discussed. Vettel insists that everyone at Ferrari is united in ensuring that a similar situation doesn't unravel again. 

"I don't think there's so much more to understand, obviously, we didn't finish the race," the four-time world champion stated. "But we are both grown-ups and we spoke to each, we spoke to Mattia. 

"We tried to go through as much as we can and we tried to move on. It's clear that we want to make sure that this doesn't happen to us again."

Replies (0)

Login to reply

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

BE Grand Prix of Belgium

Local time 

World Championship standings 2023

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2023

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
3 - Mar 5
Bahrain
17 - Mar 19
Saudi Arabia
31 - Apr 2
Australia
28 - Apr 30
Azerbaijan
5 - May 7
United States of America
19 - May 21
Italy
26 - May 28
Monaco
2 - Jun 4
Spain
16 - Jun 18
Canada
30 - Jul 2
Austria
7 - Jul 9
United Kingdom
21 - Jul 23
Hungary
28 - Jul 30
Belgium
25 - Aug 27
Netherlands
1 - Sep 3
Italy
15 - Sep 17
Singapore
22 - Sep 24
Japan
20 - Oct 22
United States of America
27 - Oct 29
Mexico
3 - Nov 5
Brazil
17 - Nov 19
United States of America
24 - Nov 26
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2023

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
3 - Mar 5
17 - Mar 19
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
31 - Apr 2
Australia Albert Park
28 - Apr 30
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
5 - May 7
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
19 - May 21
26 - May 28
Monaco Monte Carlo
2 - Jun 4
16 - Jun 18
30 - Jul 2
Austria Red Bull Ring
7 - Jul 9
United Kingdom Silverstone
21 - Jul 23
Hungary Hungaroring
28 - Jul 30
25 - Aug 27
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
1 - Sep 3
Italy Monza
15 - Sep 17
22 - Sep 24
20 - Oct 22
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
27 - Oct 29
3 - Nov 5
Brazil Interlagos
17 - Nov 19
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
24 - Nov 26
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team Aston Martin
  • Points 1,480
  • Podiums 56
  • Grand Prix 161
  • Country DE
  • Date of b. Jul 3 1987 (35)
  • Place of b. Heppenheim, DE
  • Weight 62 kg
  • Length 1.75 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar