Vettel relieved: “We had to attack at the right times”

Forgotten, the disillusionment of a terrible abandonment in front of his fans in July 2018. A year after his outing in the gravel at Hockenheim (Germany), Sebastian Vettel returned a copy free from any fault on Sunday July 28, moving from the last row on the starting grid to the second final position.

From P20 to P2 what a comeback. You rock #Seb5 #esseFerrari# SF90 #GermanGP pic.twitter.com/ioQz83lwQI

— Team Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 28, 2019

Of course, the wearer of number 5 was smiling in the paddock. “It was a long race. There were many choices to make. Most were wise, some may have been late, but I'm very happy. »

This is the first podium for the German from Canada in June. A result collected with patience and seriousness. “I was pretty happy with my flight. Then after a few laps, I said to myself: “Come on, you have to go further, otherwise the race will slip through your fingers!”, he recalls at the microphone of Sky Sports F1. 

“At a certain point, between the Safety Car interventions and all the track excursions, I thought we needed to adopt a “DC” method. (nickname of David Coulthard. Editor’s note). He was fast in these conditions, not really spectacular, but we suddenly saw him in the lead! He was like that in his career”, explains the four-time world champion, keen on the history of his sport.  

“In this race you had to attack at the right times and survive. When the track started to dry, I started to feel confident. The first turn was tricky to negotiate, the drivers went wide (especially Mercedes. Editor’s note), but it was precisely in this place that I had to give my all. 

I was comfortable, I maintained a good top speed, this helped me enter the DRS zone of my opponents in the second corner. Then, I was ideally placed to attack on the opposite straight. » This is also where he overtook several drivers at lightning speed during the last five laps of a crazy race. 

Find it in AUTO issue 2227hebdo analysis of F1 in Germany by our special correspondents, available Monday evening digitally and Wednesday on newsstands.