"People around me" motivating Vettel through Ferrari crisis

Sebastian Vettel

"People around me" motivating Vettel through Ferrari crisis

Vettel is set to leave Ferrari on the back of his worst season for the team

Ian Parkes

Wednesday 2 September 2020 09:27

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Sebastian Vettel is adamant his motivation remains high despite his impending departure from a woefully-performing Ferrari.

Vettel is currently enduring his worst start to a season since his first full campaign in F1 in 2008 with Toro Rosso, scoring just 16 points from the opening seven races.

It would be easy for Vettel to start counting down the days and races towards his eventual exit, but he insists he is driven to support the team through its current crisis, just as much as they supported him in the years when he was challenging for the title.

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Asked as to the source of his motivation in this incredibly demanding year, Vettel replied: "It's very simple - the people around me.

"When you walk into the garage I am not the only one trying to make the most of the situation. I have a large group of people around me.

"That's not just around my car, but the whole garage, which is also Charles' group - all of the mechanics, all of the engineers - and that's just the team on the track.

'Then there are obviously a lot of people connected remotely at Maranello, and the whole team there. So it's a big effort. Everybody is putting a lot of effort in to make the most out of what we have today."

Vettel concedes Ferrari's current travails, with the Scuderia collecting its worst two-car result for a decade in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix, is concerning.

Yet he remains determined to leave on whatever high can be mustered. He added: "Certainly, it's not the most fun to fight for P13, P10 or P8, but rather we are trying to make it P10, P8, P5 or P3, and hopefully that's before the season ends.

"That's all our ambition, including my ambition. I feel myself part of this team, not just by contract, but by spirit.

"All of the people, as I have said, have put in a lot of effort over the last couple of years to help me, and it's only a sign of respect to try to do the same in return. To answer your question, that's where the motivation comes from.

"Surely I'm not going to lie, it would be a lot more fun for me, for all of us, if we were fighting at the front and not fighting where we were today."

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