Vettel: Ferrari's COTA recovery is bad news

Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari's rediscovered pace at the United States Grand Prix was "bad news" – as it highlighted how costly their backfiring upgrade package of previous races had been. Kimi Raikkonen benefitted from the red cars' recovery to win at the Circuit of the Americas after Vettel's hopes went up in smoke with another spin caused by contact.

As in Italy with Lewis Hamilton and Japan with Max Verstappen, Vettel had to fight back through the field after an early tangle with a rival driver – this time, Daniel Ricciardo.

Vettel recovered to fourth, but must win all three remaining races, while hoping Lewis Hamilton somehow only scores four points across them, to win the title.

Vettel's anguished reaction to coming within a tenth of Hamilton's pole time at COTA was interpreted by many in the paddock as frustration that Ferrari's downgraded car had gained speed – after sluggish outings in Singapore, Russia and Japan with new parts.

The German did plenty to confirm those suggestions when asked about Ferrari's Stateside recovery after the race.

"It took too long," he said. "You can see it as good news but you can also see it as bad news.

"If we have to go back to a car that has been competitive three or four months ago, surely it can't be good news if you think about it.

"It's a bit hard to explain. If you don't see that there is a problem, you don't think that there is a problem. We felt the car was not as strong as it was before but if you don't see there is anything wrong then you don't know that there is something wrong.

"All the steps we did, they seemed to make sense. But now looking back, they didn't.

"Clearly there was something missed. We haven't understood why and where the aero took off and started, there is a lot of stuff for us to do and understand, but I'm pretty sure we will do what is necessary and get on top of it."

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