Vettel blames Hamilton for collision at start

Like a sense of déjà vu. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) had a good card to reduce its accounting deficit on Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) at the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday. But, in a similar scenario at the German Grand Prix in July, the driver of the Team threw this opportunity up in the air.

This time, it was not the rain that caused this frustrating outcome, but an error from the driver himself. Yet cautious at the start compared to the poleman and teammate Kimi Räikkönen, Sebastian Vettel was unable to properly defend his second place against Lewis Hamilton. The two men collided at the second chicane (Variante della Roggia), after the Ferrari understeered.

Restarting in 18th place after his spin, the four-time world champion made two pit stops to change his front nose, then tires. His quiet climb among slower cars stopped in fifth place, very quickly transformed into fourth position after the five-second penalty given to Max Verstappen (Red Bull) for a touch with Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes).

race results, Sebastian Vettel sees his delay increase to 30 points on Lewis Hamilton. Not great, especially in front the tens of thousands of fans acquired to the cause of the Scuderia. “Lewis had a better restart from the first chicane and then he was on the outside and I had nowhere to go. That (the contact) could have led to the opposite observation”, expresses the German on Canal+, either Lewis Hamilton spins rather than him.

A few moments later, on Sky Sports F1, he adds a layer. “ Lewis saw a small space outside but then he left me no room. I had no choice but to hit him. It’s a bit ironic that it’s up to me to spin off next! »

Sebastian Vettel finally believes that the points for fourth place reflect a situation that has been well recovered. “It could have been a lot worse today. Of course, it doesn't help when you lose ground, but it's not the end of the world. We'll all get up tomorrow morning! I'm not too worried, we have a good pace. » A Coué method which he had already used... in Germany, after his abandonment.

Find the analysis of the Italian GP by our special correspondent in issue 2181 of AUTOhebdo, on sale Monday evening in digital version and Wednesday on newsstands.