Sebastian Vettel

Fights I shouldn’t have picked no excuse for failed Ferrari stint - Vettel

Vettel offers no excuses for his failed six-year Ferrari stay

Sam Hall

Wednesday 7 October 2020 14:39

Sebastian Vettel has admitted to picking "fights that maybe I shouldn’t have picked" during his six-year stint at Ferrari but says he will not use these to excuse his failure to deliver a championship title.

When Sebastian Vettel moved to Maranello in 2015, he did so with the ambition to replicate the success of his childhood hero Michael Schumacher and return the Scuderia to the top of the sport.

However, despite taking 14 victories for the team and finishing second in the standings to Lewis Hamilton in 2017 and '18, the German was unable to achieve his mission.

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“No I don’t think I will go on having any regrets looking back," Vettel told the Beyond the Grid podcast.

"It is true that I have failed because I set myself the mission or the target to win the championship with Ferrari. I have failed. I didn’t manage to do that.

“There are things that I should have done better, things that maybe I should have seen earlier, fights that maybe I shouldn’t have picked, but then again I think everything that happened brought me to where I am now.

“It’s not like, and I’m generally not talking about things that happen on the track now, losing the car in Hockenheim in sort of half wet, half dry conditions, many people point that one out as a low point but I’m not talking about things like that, I’m more talking about things that have been going on [behind the scenes]."

Assessing his time at Maranello in a "fair and harsh" manner, Vettel confessed he has "failed" by not taking a fifth personal title while with the team.

He added: "Were there reasons? Probably yes but I don’t accept them as excuses so whatever happened also put me on the next step forward and the next level to focus on the next thing.”

Reflecting on the "fights" he believes he was unwise to pick, he explained: "I just think that maybe, looking back, they weren’t worth fighting.

"But then again, part of it is probably my nature and it was natural to do so and I think I had a point as well in some of these little fights, battles, whatever, but I think ultimately that’s how you mature and learn.

“Again, I think the important bit is I don’t have the sense of regret. I’m happy to move on.”

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