Vettel: 'It's not the right day to be positive'

The race of Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) will only have lasted a few cables. The German, qualified in second place on the starting grid for the Japanese Grand Prix, was unable to defend his chances.

Sebastian Vettel got off to a cautious start, but it was mainly the state of his car that worried him, even before the lights went out. On the radio, the four-time world champion spoke with his team to warn them of a power problem during the training lap. Problem which was confirmed from the first round; the lack of engine power became so obvious that the car red was being dropped off in a straight line by the Red Bull, Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) and even Esteban Ocon (ForceIndia).

The Italian engineers quickly called their driver back to the pits. Sebastian Vettel was actually the victim of a broken spark plug, forcing him to retire, his second in three races after the crash in Singapore. “We’ve done a tremendous job so far. These last two tests have undermined reliability (engine change in Malaysia), but it's like that ", explained the leader of the Reds after the end of his race.

More than his retirement, it is the 25 points conceded to his opponent for the title Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) which marked the Sunday of the driver. From now on, the gap with first place in the standings extends to 59 points, with four rounds remaining. “Of course it hurts, we’re all disappointed. But the best thing to do is to rest, come back and give everything in the next meetings, and we'll see what happens.", he estimated. “ I still have a chance this year, even if it doesn't really depend on me anymore. »

Before leaving the Japanese paddock, Sebastian Vettel tried to put his best foot forward. “It’s normal to be critical, especially when the plan doesn’t go as expected, but I’m thinking about protecting my team despite this abandonment. There were also some positive things this weekend, but right now we don’t really think about it, it’s not the right day to be positive.”

Discover the analysis of the Japanese GP carried out by our special correspondent in issue 2135 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.