Sebastian Vettel savors his podium in front of the tifosi
After a controversial retirement at the Belgian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel scores a podium at the Italian Grand Prix, which he savors. Furthermore, he advocates for keeping the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
For Ferrari’s home race, the Italian team placed Sebastian Vettel in 3rd place and Kimi Räikkönen in 2nd place on the starting grid. While the latter missed his start, the German driver quickly launched an attack on Lewis Hamilton, but the Englishman was on another level at Monza.
On the podium, the former Red Bull driver was delighted to be on the podium: “After the first two laps, we had similar lap times. I considered that we had a chance to close the gap. Felipe and I seemed to struggle with the tires. Lewis was doing what he had to do, it was incredible to see him perform, but we had no chance of catching him.”
Under pressure at the end of the race by Nico Rosberg, but the latter saw his engine catch fire two laps from the finish. Kimi Räikkönen’s teammate commented on this incident: « After Nico Rosberg’s retirement, I raced alone. Lewis had a very high pace, I knew Nico could match his teammate’s pace. Nico was closing the gap on me, it was getting tighter and tighter, but I believe we would have managed to keep that 2nd place, even if Nico hadn’t retired. In the end, it’s the best second place I’ve ever had, what a range of emotions ».
The Italian Grand Prix is still under threat, but the German driver is calling on the FIA to keep the Italian Grand Prix at Monza: « If we take this off the calendar for some lousy financial reasons, it will tear our hearts apart. It was an incredible day ».
