'Ferrari fan' Sebastian Vettel is sorry to see 'team is unable to fight for top positions'

During the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Italian daily newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport conducted a long interview with former Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel. Here is an excerpt in which the four-time F1 world champion discussed the main events of the Formula 1 championship, including Max Verstappen’s dominance with Red Bull and the challenging moment the Maranello team is going through.

Sebastian Vettel, a Ferrari fan: “It’s sad to see that the team is unable to fight for victories.”

So far, ten races of the 2023 Formula 1 championship have been held, with Max Verstappen winning eight and Sergio Perez winning two. The RB19 designed in Milton Keynes seems to have no rivals, and it’s hard to imagine it being beaten by the end of the current season. But can they really win them all? When asked this question, Sebastian Vettel replied, “It’s not impossible. So far, only McLaren came close in 1988; perhaps Mercedes could have done it too… but based on how they are performing, they might actually achieve it. Although there are always many variables, a technical issue, an error, an accident… But when you’re consistently leading, you obviously have more control over what happens.” – the German driver explained.

Sebastian Vettel has also experienced dominant seasons. However, when asked if he sees himself in Max, he states: “You can’t compare different seasons and eras. The only thing you can do, in my opinion, is to enjoy the performance, the consistency that Max and Red Bull are showing, their ability to win every race. It’s certainly not easy or guaranteed. Credit must be given to the team for doing a great job, but the driver is doing equally well because Max never makes mistakes. Look at Sergio (Perez; editor’s note), he’s not a bad driver, but there are races in which he struggles a lot. However, every era has its dominators; it happened with me, with Michael before, and Lewis after…” – Seb pointed out.

On the other hand, Scuderia Ferrari is unfortunately struggling tremendously, a team for which Sebastian Vettel drove from 2015 to 2020, narrowly missing out on the world championship. “As a Ferrari fan, it hurts. I’m sorry to see that the team is unable to fight for the top positions. I hope they find a way to succeed soon, but the road won’t be an easy one,” emphasizes Seb.

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Lastly, he mentions Aston Martin‘s breakthrough and Daniel Ricciardo’s return to the track: “I’m especially happy for Fernando (Alonso; editor’s note) because he always demonstrates a lot of determination. I’m happy for Daniel; he deserves to be in Formula 1, but at the same time, I feel sorry for De Vries. It’s not nice to be left out like that; it was a tough and brutal decision.”