Vettel: German GP crash a 'huge impact'

Sebastian Vettel admitted a "small mistake" could have a "huge impact" after he crashed out of the German Grand Prix to hand Lewis Hamilton victory at Hockenheim and the lead of the drivers' championship. Vettel had dominated the weekend, but remains without a win at his home circuit after falling foul of rain.

Pole-sitter Vettel had made serene progress off the line, but his race began to unravel after the first batch of pitstops, which left the German behind team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

It cost Vettel time and tyre life, which perhaps came back to haunt him as a freshly ultrasoft-shod Hamilton began lapping almost three seconds a lap quicker than anyone.

And the pressure told as Vettel skated off-track at the Sachs Curve, reducing Vettel to tears as he sat in the gravel.

"I was in the barrier and realised that I don't get out from there," Vettel said of his reaction. "How can you process this?

"It wasn't a huge mistake, but it was a huge impact on the race, because we retired there.

"It's not like tonight I will have difficulties to fall asleep, because of what I've done wrong. It's disappointing because, up to that point, everything was sweet but we didn't need the rain."

Vettel has not trailed Hamilton by as many points as the 17-point deficit he currently has, however, the German sees reasons to be positive, with Ferrari now clearly owning the fastest car on the grid.

"We have a strong car, so we can be as confident [if not] more than anyone else," he said.

"It was a very positive weekend, just one of those moments and my mistake so apologies to the team. They did everything right. I had it in my hands... small mistake, big disappointment."