F1
Nate Saunders, General Editor, F1 7y

Sebastian Vettel: Late British GP drama not a disaster

Formula 1

SILVERSTONE -- Sebastian Vettel insists his late drama and seventh-place finish at the British Grand Prix should not be seen as a disaster, despite seeing his championship lead cut to one point.

Vettel had looked on course to finish fourth at Silverstone when Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen hit trouble with a front-left tyre delamination. That briefly promoted Vettel to third position but he suffered a similar issue on the penultimate lap, forcing him to pit.

He emerged in seventh, meaning race winner Lewis Hamilton cut 19 points out of his title lead, but Vettel asked if Silverstone turned out to be a disastrous weekend for him and the team, he replied: "Well I think it could've been a little bit better for sure. Disaster, I don't think so. I think we had a good car, especially in the corners. The balance was alright. In the race obviously, brakes caught fire at the start, which compromised the start and from there it was a difficult race.

"Didn't get past Max, we did it with the pitstop. Then we were like P3, P4, it was clear that Valtteri would come because he benefitted at the beginning because I was stuck, but overall small things here and there that led into a busy afternoon."

Vettel had been complaining about his right fronts for several laps before his teammate hit trouble, though he does not think Ferrari could have done anything differently at the time.

"Hindsight is great it's easy but at the time it felt okay. Kimi I think had a similar issue, and his tyres were at least five, six laps fresher so I think it caught us both by surprise."

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