Despite the fact that he scored another podium finish at last weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel did not hide that he was vastly disappointed. According to the four-time Formula One world champion, it was representative of the entire 2017 F1 season, finishing a clear second to the dynamic Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. Sebastian Vettel elaborated by saying that the race at Yas Marina exemplified how far Scuderia Ferrari has to come to match the silver arrow crew next year. As he put it, this year was only part of what Maranello hopes to achieve in 2018.
Sebastian Vettel’s dominant tear in the first half of 2017 sat him atop the Drivers’ Championship until the silly season break. Victories at the opening Australian Grand Prix and other major races like Monaco put the momentum in his favor, but a drastic comeback by Hamilton eclipsed the Ferrari pilot’s early aspirations. Seb mentioned that much of the same came at Abu Dhabi: “Well it’s a race” – the German driver said – “We took it all very serious, so I think it’s serious. I think we had a strong year overall – obviously we didn’t win. Neither the drivers’ nor the constructors’, so we can’t be happy as it’s generally what we set out to achieve. Overall, we were not quick enough, as simple as that. In the end, you can break it down to a lot of details and this and that. Overall the package wasn’t good enough, but I think the positives remain, outweigh the disappointments we had here and there over the year.”
Sebastian Vettel then pointed out that 2017 was still a tremendous step for the Maranello team. He compared this year’s results to 2016 in which Sebastian Vettel finished fourth in drivers’ standings while Ferrari claimed third in the Constructors’ Championship: “You must not forget where we’ve been 12 months ago and the incredible achievement that’s come together over the winter to set up this year and throughout the season to keep improving the car, the engine; so a lot of work, but overall we saw today we got a fair beating and couldn’t touch them in quali and in the race. Obviously, there’s lots for us to do better.” – the German driver concluded, as repored by the Italian media earlier today.
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