Sebastian Vettel blames himself for missing out on the podium

Once again, Ferrari’s weekend follows the same pattern: qualifying below the potential shown by the car, which places the drivers in a disadvantageous position on the track, ultimately preventing them from fully capitalizing on unusual situations. Thus, in Spain, both Ferrari drivers had to concede to Max Verstappen’s Red Bull.

In Monaco, Sebastian Vettel was unable to fully take advantage of Nico Rosberg’s underperformance, as he only finished 4th. The Ferrari driver believes that a podium was possible if he hadn’t ended up behind Felipe Massa after his pit stop or if he had managed to find an opening on the track: « It was a tough race. I think I could have done better when I stopped and ended up behind Felipe. We made the right strategic decision, but I should have found a way to pass him. I think that’s where I lost the podium. »

The German decides to take the blame and does not seek to shift the fault onto his team: « I think we were very fast this weekend. The pit stops were fantastic, really good work from the guys. But the rest is my fault. I apologize because I wasn’t able to get on the podium. I tried everything to close the gap with Perez and was very close several times. I was also lucky not to hit the wall at the end. »

If Sebastian Vettel brings back at least twelve points from his Monaco weekend, this is not the case for Kimi Räikkönen, who made a mistake on the wet track: « It was very difficult to have grip on the wet. I was trying to drive as fast as possible but I was very slow. At one point, while trying to downshift, I slightly locked the rear, went straight and couldn’t turn at the hairpin. Unfortunately, I hit the wall and broke the front wing. It got stuck under the car. »

At the end of this weekend, Sebastian Vettel is therefore just one point behind his teammate in the world championship standings while Ferrari holds only a nine-point lead over Red Bull.