Ferrari's wretched run continued
with a debacle in the second-last grand prix of the season as
Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc collided five laps from the
end of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The pair were vying for third place in the drivers'
standings, but that has now gone to Red Bull's Max Verstappen
after he won the race.
Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton clinched his sixth drivers'
championship two weeks ago.
He was seventh on Sunday.
With one race to go, Hamilton is on 396 points and his
teammate Valtteri Bottas on 314, both insurmountable totals.
Vertstappen is on 260, Leclerc 249 and four-time world champ
Vettel 230.
The Scuderia said after the Brazil race: "Scuderia Ferrari
Mission Winnow leaves Brazil with the worst possible result: no
points following a collision between Sebastian Vettel and
Charles Leclerc, which led to both of them having to retire from
the race, after they had both been front runners right up the
final laps."
Vettel said: "The summary of the day is that we did not finish
a race in which we could have got a good result. It's a shame
about the collision between us, especially for the team as a
whole, given that both cars were in the points and considering
how much work everyone puts in, both at the track and back in
Maranello. From my point of view, the race was going well, even
if I think that Max (Verstappen) was uncatchable today. Now we
must just focus on the final race of the season where will try
and bring home the best possible result."
Leclerc said:"It's a real pity to end the weekend like this.
I am sorry for the whole team, especially because today we were
fast and we were looking good to bring home some decent points.
It had actually been an exciting race for me. Starting from the
midfield, I enjoyed fighting my way forward and was satisfied
with the way things were progressing. We will move on from this
in any case and continue to work together in the best way. Now
it's time for us to focus on Abu Dhabi to end our season in the
best possible way."
Mattia Binotto, Team Principal, said:
"The overriding feeling today is that everyone, first and
foremost our drivers are very disappointed and sorry from a team
perspective. It was a small collision that had a big
consequence. In truth, this sort of thing should never happen.
Our drivers were free to race today and they knew that. We have
already clinched second place in the Constructors' Championship
and they were battling for their own positions in the Drivers'
classification.
"Of course we now need to sit down and decide together where
the limits are to make sure we all push for the benefit of the
team and make sure these things don't happen anymore.
Our race today was certainly not bad, and similar to Mexico in
terms of performance. We are still lacking a bit of pace in the
race. Sebastian was in a comfortable fourth, Charles from 14th
could have been on the podium. It's such a shame that we ended
up throwing away so many points."
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
