Vettel 'disastrous' - Italian media react to British Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel

Vettel 'disastrous' - Italian media react to British Grand Prix

They are rapidly losing faith in the German.

Martin Macdonald

Tuesday 16 July 2019 12:50

The partisan Italian sports media have once again heaped criticism on Sebastian Vettel following another abject performance from the German which saw him finish 16th in the British Grand Prix on Sunday.

It was a dreadful weekend overall for Vettel, who could only record the 6th fastest time in qualifying to start sixth on the grid in the GP.

He never looked in contention for the victory, with Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas battling for P1 further ahead, but was at points in sight of a podium spot.

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However, his race came to a screeching halt later on as he was overtaken by Max Verstappen, and in his attempts to reclaim the place, crashed straight through the back of the Red Bull driver. He has since apologised for the incident, admitting it was his own misjudgement.

Vettel hasn’t received much sympathy from the Italian media, though, who are ferociously passionate about the success of Ferrari and appear to now be favouring Charles Leclerc.

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"Ferrari has a new leader," said La Gazzetta dello Sport, who also described the German as “again disastrous” on Sunday.

"Leclerc is combative and energetic and has finally captured the heart of the Ferrari fans.

"Vettel has shown that he is not the driver that Ferrari wants. It is now clear that something is no longer working."

Corriere della Sera believes that Leclerc is closing the gap on Vettel to become Ferrari’s top driver.

"Vettel loses his head once again, while the youngster Leclerc is gaining all the time in prestige,” they wrote.

La Stampa, meanwhile, suggested that team principal Mattia Binotto is perhaps too sentimentally attached to Vettel.

"Maranello, we have a problem,” the outlet said.

“Almost like an older brother, Binotto defends Vettel but the driver's crisis seems to be endless,"