VIDEO. Vettel's road exit: "Not a huge mistake"

This is a huge blow suffered by Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) Sunday in Hockenheim (Germany). On his home turf, the poleman had all the cards in hand to win the event and widen the gap in the Drivers' standings over his opponents. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). However, the initial plan was reversed, and it was in the paddock that the German gave his first interviews while Lewis Hamilton celebrated his victory.

Sebastian Vettel led the Grand Prix almost calmly. He certainly had to raise his voice on the radio to ask his team to slow down an annoying Kimi Räikkönen in front of him after the first stops, but after applying team orders, he gradually regained the lead. “It was a bit pointless, I was stuck and I didn't know what the team wanted to do between staying behind and preserving the tires, or attacking. But in the end, it didn't matter. »

Everything changed when on the 53rd lap, he was surprised by the onset of rain in the stadium. His Ferrari shot straight into the gravel and hit the protective wall, at low speed, but enough to prevent it from leaving again. Sebastian Vettel banged his steering wheel in annoyance and cursed on the radio.

“I braked slightly too late, I locked the rear wheels. If it had happened elsewhere on the circuit, I could have continued, but not there. It wasn't spectacular, I didn't do anything really serious." the four-time world champion quickly explained. Indeed, the stadium is one of the rare places to have gravel and a small clearance space.

“I’m obviously disappointed. I had (victory) Between hands, certified the pilot. It wasn't a huge riding error, from the inside it wasn't a big mistake, but it was enough to have a huge impact on my race. I am sincerely sorry to the whole team. »

#Seb5 joining Maurizio at the pit wall #GermanGP pic.twitter.com/u8b6mH66de

- Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 22, 2018

Sebastian Vettel leaves control of the general classification to Lewis Hamilton. “I am confident for the future, we have already shown what we are capable of. » He is now 17 points behind the Mercedes driver. Not at all considerable, but such a scenario should not happen for the Scuderia.

Discover the analysis of the German Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2175 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.