Vettel 'doing his job' in Verstappen move

Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene said Sebastian Vettel was simply "doing his job" attempting the overtake on Max Verstappen that proved so costly at the Japanese Grand Prix. Vettel banged into the side of Verstappen at Spoon Curve, sending him into a spin and to the back of the field.

Vettel's recovered to finish sixth at Suzuka, but his title hopes are all but finished, with Lewis Hamilton able to take a fifth crown in Austin next time out, having romped to victory in Japan.

The German put the blame firmly at the feet of Verstappen after the race, although the Dutchman was naturally quick to defend himself.

Arrivabene told Sky Sports: "Why do we have to talk always about mistakes?

"We had the news about the penalty very late and Sebastian was doing his job. If you want to talk about a race incident, I accept this, but we were not able to exploit our potential."

The race result capped a miserable weekend for Ferrari, who botched their qualifying strategy to leave Vettel starting eighth on the grid.

Fastest lap for #Seb5 1:32.670 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/VahDBryBb8 — Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) October 7, 2018

"Yesterday we had the problem that everybody knows about, and as I said yesterday I was a bit disappointed - but we win and lose together," Arrivabene added.

"I have to say the team and drivers reacted very well. We had circumstances during the race and it was clear the podium was not in our hands today.

"Concerning the future races I know the situation looks impossible but our challenge is to achieve the impossible."

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