Smedley rates the 2019 season as Vettel's strongest
Smedley rates the 2019 season as Vettel's strongest
The 2019 Formula 1 season was Sebastian Vettel's strongest says former Ferrari according to former race engineer Rob Smedley.
At the beginning of May, Vettel announced that he would part ways with Ferrari at the end of the season. Whether the German will continue racing at another team or will enter into retirement remains unknown, but Smedley was prepared to hang his hat on his opinion.
"I think we’ve got a really good driver there, a really wonderful driver, and do you know what? I think his best year in Formula 1 is, I’m going to get hammered for this, his best year in Formula 1 was last year, it was 2019," Smedley told the F1 Nation podcast.
“I think he faced the biggest challenge of his career that year, and everybody kind of wrote him off because it was the easy thing to do, that Charles [Leclerc] is just going to get better and better and it’s the end of Sebastian, if you like.
“I think we saw the real Sebastian Vettel towards the end of the year. Sebastian had been a little bit lost, and I’m sure he’d freely admit that he wasn’t where he wanted to be, both within the team and with his teammate at the start of the year, but then he actually got his head down, and that’s the sign of a true champion, he came back."
Leclerc joined Vettel at Ferrari for the 2019 season as a clear number two driver within the team, but this status quickly changed as the Monégasque showed he could match Vettel for pace.
Smedley added: “Sebastian had all the pressure, there’s no doubt about it. I think that’s the most pressure he’s probably ever had in his career, and he’s been against good drivers, he’s been against world champions.
"He dominated Kimi [Raikkonen], with Mark [Webber] at Red Bull, who’s absolutely no slouch, Mark’s a really fast driver, and managed to always come out on top.
“But I’m just not sure that he’s ever had the challenge that he had in 2019, so for him to cope with that, and to come back and kind of stamp his authority after a shaky start, I personally think we saw something special.”
Before you go...
First look at the Hanoi Street Circuit on F1 2020
Sainz's 'main focus' on McLaren
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Ferrari announce DRASTIC change as Verstappen issues dire warning to bosses - GPFans F1 Recap
- Today 00:27
Hamilton sends strong message over Gaza deaths
- Yesterday 22:57
F1 giants announce name change with IMMEDIATE effect
- Yesterday 21:57
Horner admits Red Bull at MAJOR disadvantage with new rules
- Yesterday 20:57
Horner reveals 'unhuman' Verstappen secret
- Yesterday 19:57
Sainz manager speaks out on 'game playing' over contract
- Yesterday 18:57
Related news
F1 giants announce name change with IMMEDIATE effect
Ferrari announce HUGE F1 change to iconic red livery
F1 team 'set to announce MEGA signing' in major Red Bull challenge
Big name driver 'very angry internally' after controversial battle
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860