Vettel: 'Impossible to be happy'

He will not be the hero who brought back Ferrari on the top step of the Monza podium, nine years later Fernando Alonso. Sebastian Vettel experienced the complete opposite of the almost idyllic day of Charles Leclerc yesterday in Lombardy.

So fourth behind the Leclerc trio – Hamilton - Bottas, the four-time German world champion made a mistake alone on the 6th lap at the Ascari Variant. Worse for the former pilot Red Bull, his return to the track was enhanced from contact with Lance Stroll (Racing Point), which itself will carry out a dangerous return to action in the face of Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso).

Logically penalized for this double incident, the two drivers saw their race ruined. “Obviously I'm not happy, blurted Vettel. We had a good start, but we lost a position and then we regained it.

We caught up with the cars in front of us, but I lost the rear of the car without being able to recover it. Then I had trouble getting it to restart, but couldn't actually go in the right direction, so I couldn't see Stroll »

Asked about a possible lack of motivation, the German refutes any drop in desire, but nevertheless admits to having been far from perfect in recent months. “Of course I still love what I do, but when you don’t do it well, you can’t be happy. »

Note that Sebastian Vettel has accumulated nine penalty points on his license, any driver reaching 12 points being sanctioned with an exclusion race.

Discover the full report and analysis of the Italian Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Monza, in issue 2233 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.