Incredible comeback by Sebastian Vettel, 2nd at Hockenheim!
Only 20th on the starting grid due to a mechanical problem in qualifying, Sebastian Vettel managed to fight through all the traffic to finish second against all odds.
After his impressive clash with Max Verstappen at Silverstone, where he missed his braking, Sebastian Vettel was determined to prove he was still in the game and shouldn’t be written off so quickly. Unfortunately for him, his turbo failed him in the first part of the qualifying session. Last on the grid after a dismal Saturday, the race was shaping up to be a true ordeal for the Ferrari driver.
Gaining seven places before even the tenth lap, Vettel’s pace in the rain was impressive. He was already in the points zone by the 7th lap. Stuck in 8th place behind Kimi Räikkönen, the mixed conditions did not suit the German world champion, who was losing almost a second per lap to the Finn. « I was struggling with the intermediates. I thought I would catch up faster than that. »
It is at the end of the race, like a Phoenix, that Sebastian Vettel is reborn to start an incredible series of overtakes. On the penultimate lap, he got past Lance Stroll and Daniil Kvyat to finish second: « Before the last safety car, I realized I was faster. Unlike other drivers, I noticed that I could take the first corner flat out, which allowed me to have the DRS to overtake them. »
A remarkable performance that shows the German is not done with Formula 1. While his place at Scuderia has often been questioned, it’s him who brings the big points to Maranello and not Charles Leclerc who finished his race in the wall. Sebastian Vettel, in any case, delighted the thousands of German fans who came to support him. When asked if he heard them from the cockpit, he replied with a smile: «To be honest, I couldn’t hear them but I could see them! You know, there’s quite a bit of noise in the car! It really made me happy. »
In any case, here’s a performance that will have made him forget his visit here last year when the weather conditions caught him off guard while he was leading the race. Let’s hope for him that this puts his season back on track, as he has only won one race in the past twelve months.
From P2️⃣0️⃣ to P2️⃣ what a comeback 😍. You rock #Seb5 👊🏾🚀 #essereFerrari🔴#SF90 #GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/ioQz83lwQI
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 28, 2019
