Breaking news
Formula 1
Vettel: Ferrari winning matters more than beating Leclerc
Sebastian Vettel says winning a personal points battle with Formula 1 teammate Charles Leclerc matters much less to him than how successful Ferrari is against its rivals.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Apr 15, 2020, 12:21 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
On the back of Leclerc’s impressive first campaign at Maranello last year, Vettel knows he needs to deliver to his best if he is going to guarantee he secures a contract extension in to 2021.
But although there has been much made of the rivalry he has with Leclerc, the four-time champion says the only thing that is important to him is that Ferrari become the best in F1.
“It is not so important whether I have five points more or less [compared to Leclerc],” said Vettel in an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com. “The important thing is that we are heading in the right direction as a team.
“Obviously last year was a step back, because we were not as strong as the years before. There's reasons. Those we need to understand and make sure we eliminate them and make progress again.
"Then five points up or down, for sure in the moment I care, but really what all of our target is here, is to make sure that Ferrari comes back to the top.”
Read Also:
- Vettel: Ferrari culture often "misunderstood"
- Why Vettel's Ferrari mission isn't over yet
- Leclerc: Lack of Ferrari contract won't destabilise Vettel
Vettel says the roller-coaster nature of coverage he gets in F1 from the media, who write him off one minute and then praise him the next, is much more extreme than it has been in the past.
“The questions change every day, they change after every result,” he said. “So in this regard I feel like it's a lot more short lived nowadays. If you have a bad day, things are a disaster for the next weeks. If you have a good day, you are the greatest for the next weeks.
“It has always been like that in a way, but just the velocity of change has changed. But that is probably something that not just F1 experiences, that's probably something the whole world experiences.
“I'm not a finance guy at all, but you just need to follow the finance market, the stock market for a day and it goes up and down. If you take the same behaviour 15 years ago, people would panic.
“And now it's completely normal to have 2 percent up, 3 percent down. 20 years ago 3 percent up was like: 'We have a problem here, we need to ...', you know [stop].”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article F1 has “massive opportunity” to slash its budget cap – Agag
Next article My job in F1: Raikkonen's race engineer
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc admits he missed a chance against Max Verstappen – but not the obvious one
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Charles Leclerc admits he missed a chance against Max Verstappen – but not the obvious one
Why Charles Leclerc failed to outbrake Max Verstappen in Turn 1 at Singapore GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Why Charles Leclerc failed to outbrake Max Verstappen in Turn 1 at Singapore GP
More from
Scuderia Ferrari
Charles Leclerc and Pecco Bagnaia: From kings to princes
MotoGP
MotoGP
Charles Leclerc and Pecco Bagnaia: From kings to princes
Sainz blasts "most unfair penalty ever", seeks stewards' explanation
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Sainz blasts "most unfair penalty ever", seeks stewards' explanation
Calado: "Difficult" for WEC Hypercar newcomers "to win straight off"
WEC
WEC
Calado: "Difficult" for WEC Hypercar newcomers "to win straight off"
Latest news
Toyota answers critics who doubted it could win in WEC’s competitive Hypercar era
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
1 h
Toyota answers critics who doubted it could win in WEC’s competitive Hypercar era
Honda ADUO engine upgrade pegged driveability back near Spec 1 level
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
Honda ADUO engine upgrade pegged driveability back near Spec 1 level
Why Alex Marquez hasn't been able to replicate his 2025 MotoGP form
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP 2 h
Why Alex Marquez hasn't been able to replicate his 2025 MotoGP form
Williams has better cooling vests than anyone – Alex Albon
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 3 h
Williams has better cooling vests than anyone – Alex Albon
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe