Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel said that the Maranello team were right not to order Kimi Raikkonen aside at the end of the Austrian GP. Despite the fact that Sebastian regained the lead of the world championship with third place at the Red Bull Ring, his one-point advantage over nearest title rival Lewis Hamilton would have been greater still had Raikkonen surrendered second place to aid his cause.
But the German driver is adamant Ferrari were correct not to impose team orders on the Finn: “No, why?” – Vettel responded when the possibility was put to him post-race following Max Verstappen’s win – “Max won the race because he deserved it and he didn’t make any mistakes – so that’s a strong performance from him. And Kimi did everything he could. I was trying to hunt both of them down. Kimi was pushing as hard as he could and l was pushing as hard as l could. Both of us were closing but it wasn’t enough.”
But while Sebastian was content with Ferrari’s approach on a day that radically evolved from damage limitation to taking the lead of both world championships, the four-time world champion admitted he was still greedy for more. Referencing his controversial pre-race grid drop for impending Renault’s Carlos Sainz during qualifying, Vettel added to Sky F1: “I got most of it right but today could have also been a bit better without the plus three from the start. I am happy with the podium but equally there was a bit more for us.”
Courtesy of the top-10 finishes for Haas and Sauber, all of the Ferrari-powered teams finished in the points on Sunday – an accomplishment not lost on Ferrari chief Maurizio Arrivabene.
“We have six Ferrari engines in the top 10 and this is very good news,” Arrivabene told Sky F1. “Silverstone is going to be a tough race for us so we need to stay concentrated and keep pushing.”
Leave a Reply