Vettel after his grueling weekend at Silverstone: “Something was wrong”

While his teammate Charles Leclerc was heading towards a 2nd podium in 4 races at the wheel of a Ferrari SF1000, however far from being fabulous, Sebastian Vettel dragged his misery into the soft underbelly of the peloton. 

The German managed to salvage a meager point under the checkerboard, a cruel but fitting conclusion to a British round that lived up to its name.

Disturbed in his preparatory work by repeated problems on Friday in free practice, Vettel had already had to settle for a modest 10th time in Q3 on Saturday. 

Forced to start with Soft tires that were not really suitable, he nevertheless gained a place by overtaking Esteban Ocon during the ballet of pit stops at the start of the race. A short-lived gain since the pilot Renault recovered his property as soon as the proceedings resumed.

Despite the pneumatic setbacks of Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) and Carlos Sainz (McLaren) at the end of the race, Vettel did not progress in the standings, overwhelmed as he was by Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) and Alexander albon (Red Bull). 

« The car was very complicated to drive, whispered the quadruple world champion on the evening of the GP. I had trouble feeling confident but I don't know why. For me to struggle like this from start to finish, that probably means something was wrong. It wasn't a very stressful GP but I just had no chance of moving forward. 

My direct rivals were faster and I was overtaken. It was downright hard to stay on track. Not physically because I couldn't even attack. The car wouldn't let me ». 

And to think that we have to do it again in a few days on the same track…