Vettel looking forward to 'great challenge' of toppling Mercedes

Vettel looking forward to 'great challenge' of toppling Mercedes

Martin Macdonald

Tuesday 22 January 2019 12:50

Sebastian Vettel has admitted that Ferrari did not do enough to maintain a meaningful title challenge up against Mercedes in the 2018 Formula 1 season, but is looking forward to the "great challenge" of finally toppling the Silver Arrows after five seasons of dominance.

Ferrari and Mercedes were embroiled in a fierce championship race for the first half of 2018, but after the summer break the former's form dipped dramatically, while Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton cruised to their respective titles.

Article continues under video

The German believes there can be no excuses in 2019, as they have all the "ingredients" to end their long wait for the title.

“We certainly had our moments last year when we had strong races, but we also had races which weren’t very strong," Vettel told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“I think overall it’s the speed that decides and I think more often than not we were lacking a little bit of speed. But we’re working very hard and the motivation is there to do that final step that is still missing.”

Despite Mercedes dominating the V6 hybrid era, Vettel claims that he and Ferrari are looking forward to finally toppling Lewis Hamilton and co.

“It will be a great challenge. What we want to achieve I think is clear," he added.

“The ingredients are there, now it’s up to us to do the job.”

MORE: Renault believe Ricciardo outlay provides value for money
MORE: 'Very difficult' stopping another Mercedes title double