Vettel: “I remain optimistic”

Sebastian Vettel narrowly missed the podium at the Malaysian GP, ​​but his goal was partly fulfilled as he limited the damage in the title race after starting from last place. The pilot Ferrari only dropped six points to his rival Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), second behind Max Verstappen (Red Bull), after enjoying a very efficient SF70H on the Sepang circuit.

The German saves the difficult weekend for Scuderia Ferrari which saw Kimi Räikkönen second on the grid retire with a mechanical problem before the start.

“I remain optimistic because we know we have a fast car, commented Sebastian Vettel. What happened to Kimi is obviously regrettable, in addition to having to start from the back of the grid. I tried to fight for the podium, but the tires were starting to suffer at the end. Nevertheless, it is promising to see that the car is good. I don't know yet if the problem is similar on both cars. »

Kimi Räikkönen once again saw his hopes of victory end without being able to participate in the race while the 2007 world champion had already retired from the Singapore GP following a pileup also involving his teammate.

“The car ran perfectly all weekend and we had this problem that happened suddenly, explains the Finn. It's one of those things that's unfortunate. I think I had my chances of winning but we will never know. It can not be helped ", comments Kimi Räikkönen.

Scuderia Ferrari is now 118 points behind Mercedes with five Grands Prix remaining at the end of the season.

Discover the analysis of the Malaysian GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2134 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.