Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel says he hopes thinking “a bit wiser” will help him improve as a driver and add to his tally of four Formula One world championships in the future. The Maranello team’s driver led the championship standings going into the summer break but ultimately lost out to Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton, who clinched his fourth title.
His former team-mate Daniel Ricciardo said Lewis Hamilton’s ability to keep a cool head was key to him beating Sebastian Vettel this year, as the German driver lost a potential win in Singapore when he aggressively defended his position at the start while in Baku he lost a victory when he was penalised for veering into Lewis Hamilton behind the safety car. When asked if he enjoyed racing Lewis Hamilton this season, Sebastian Vettel, who was speaking at an event to open the FIA’s new Hall of Fame in Paris in which he was inducted, said: “Yes, definitely. There is no doubt about his skill and his speed. He’s very quick and he doesn’t do many mistakes. Jacques [Villeneuve] said [Michael] Schumacher was the best one and the hardest one to fight against. It’s exactly that, if you fight against the best, it elevates you onto the next level. A lot of the things that I did back then, they were right, but today thinking a bit different or just a bit wiser, I hope so, to allow me to do better.” – Scuderia Ferrari‘s German driver said.
FIA president Jean Todt praised Lewis Hamilton, who did not attend the event, as a “great champion” but would not be drawn on whether he felt the Briton could equal Schumacher’s record tally of seven world championships: “We admire him what he has done,” said Jean Todt. “It’s a combination of a man, team and machine. He had the best combination to be able to achieve that and use his natural talent. How many years he would like to do that? We don’t know. One day you wake up and you feel it’s time to do something different. Maybe he will not feel that. But I wish him well.” – Jean Todt concluded.
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