Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel reckons his driving needs only small adjustments and that nothing major is to be changed after another difficult F1 season by his standards.
Having had several failed championship campaigns over the course of turbo-hybrid era in F1, the driving technique of Vettel has been scrutinized by fans and members of the paddock alike. It continued in 2019 as well despite a slightly better run.
Even he lost to new Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc, Vettel made fewer mistakes unlike the 2018 F1 season. Looking back, the four-time champion said that in order to win in 2020, no major modifications need to be made regarding his style of driving.
Rather, the German said that small things ‘here and there’ require change, as he pointed out that he ‘know[s] how to drive’. “I don’t think there’s rocket science to be changed,” said Vettel to media including FormulaRapida.net.
“It’s always in the details, small adjustments, so it’s nothing big and major. I don’t need to drive differently, I know how to drive and obviously we all work together trying to improve the car to make it faster for both of us.
“But as I mentioned before, you always look at yourself, so for sure I’m not doing the same stuff that I did 10 years ago. I’ve evolved and I think to the better but certainly here and there there’s things that you always feel you can do better.
“Flesh to the bone, I think it’s in the end small things, I think obviously the moment you step in the car, you always try to extract the maximum but certainly I think as a whole, as a team, we didn’t find ourselves as competitive as we want.”
Vettel though, did clarify that some modifications were in order heading into the future, within both himself and Ferrari. “I think I’ve just been honest, so I didn’t feel like I’ve always done what I can do,” he said. “I think I’ve been around for long enough.
“And I’m honest enough to admit so I think here and there I should have done a better job. I know that there’s more from my side, so clearly I look at myself first, address all the points that I feel need to be addressed in myself.
“So I think there’s things that I can do better, that I know I can do better, so that’s the first thing I look at and obviously try to do better next year.” The 2020 F1 season will be a big one for Vettel as he is out of contract for 2021 and Leclerc has signed on until 2024.
Here’s Sebastian Vettel on where Ferrari missed the trick
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Here’s Charles Leclerc on his 2019 F1 season went
The story was written by Duncan Leahy and edited by Darshan Chokhani