Ferrari: A Vettel Too Erratic for the Podium
Second on the grid, Sebastian Vettel certainly hoped for better than a fifth place at the finish. But the German driver made too many mistakes during the race to hope for a podium spot.
Sebastian Vettel had a more difficult race than expected in Sakhir. He made several mistakes, including going off the track, which forced him to return to the pits to change his wing. He then got stuck behind Bottas’s Williams: « It wasn’t the perfect day for me, it seems. I could never find the rhythm and lost positions… (…) I generally struggled a bit with the rear tires and corner exits, which left me vulnerable to attacks from Nico (Rosberg) and prevented me from getting close enough to Valtteri (Bottas) to chase him down the straights with the DRS. »
But the level of competitiveness displayed by Kimi Räikkönen, second in the event, has something to satisfy a Sebastian Vettel who only dreams of victories: « On the other hand, I am very happy for Kimi. It’s good that he was able to overtake Nico towards the end of the race. For the team, it’s obviously a good result. The road before the end of the season is still long, and up to this race we can be very, very happy. It’s always a big surprise to see how well positioned we are, but there is always a little gap with the Mercedes. »
Maurizio Arrivabene is also satisfied with this result: « I am very happy for Kimi: today, he is officially back. He showed how much of a racing beast he is, and if we had a few more laps, then maybe… (…) I want to thank everyone in Maranello because they were able to work on the engine development, as well as every component, achieving in three months what should have normally taken at least twice as long. I can’t say if we are going to catch up with Mercedes, but I really like the idea of putting some pressure on them. »
