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Rebuilding Vettel's confidence "won't be easy" - Brawn
It is "essential" Ferrari rebuilds Sebastian Vettel's confidence for next season, reckons ex-Formula 1 team boss Ross Brawn after Vettel's latest errors in the Italian Grand Prix.
Scott Mitchell
Edited: Sep 16, 2019, 12:45 PM
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Vettel spun at Ascari early on and compounded that error by rejoining unsafely and causing Lance Stroll to spin.
He received a stop/go penalty and three penalty points on his licence, leaving him one major incident from a race ban, and these mistakes were the latest in a long line stretching back to his crash while leading last year's German Grand Prix.
The four-time world champion is also under pressure to retain his reputation as team leader at Ferrari after Charles Leclerc's Monza win earned the youngster back-to-back victories.
"Vettel is clearly one of the greats of our sport, but at this tough time he really needs the support of the team to regain the confidence he seems to be lacking at the moment," said now-F1 sporting chief Brawn in his regular post-race review.
"That, as well as pushing on with the car development, has to be a priority for Mattia Binotto in the coming weeks.
"It won't be easy, but it is essential especially in terms of 2020."
Read Also:
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Brawn suspected Vettel felt "let down" by Leclerc after the qualifying farce on Saturday, when Leclerc delayed committing to giving Vettel a tow as agreed because drivers were delaying each other massively to avoid losing out on a tow.
"However, what happened in the race was down to him alone," said Brawn.
"Sebastian made two mistakes on lap seven, spinning and then hitting Stroll and the errors look even worse in light of Leclerc's double victory in Spa and Monza.
"It's an unavoidable fact that no matter who the driver is and regardless of how good things are in the team, your first rival is always your teammate.
"To a certain extent, Sebastian is experiencing what he felt at Red Bull in his final year there, in 2014, when he found himself up against Daniel Ricciardo, a youngster setting incredible pace."
Leclerc's driving came under scrutiny on Sunday because of two moves in particular in defence of Hamilton - one under braking at the Roggia chicane and a jink left at Curva Grande.
But Brawn was full of praise for the 21-year-old and said on Sunday he was reminded of the 2003 Grand Prix when Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya fought for the win.
Of Leclerc, he said: "The Ferrari man did not back down and was on the limit of what the rules allow, as great champions always are and have to be.
"In fact, Leclerc was also very shrewd in the way he handled the situation in that truly bizarre Q3 qualifying session on Saturday.
"Following on from his win in Spa the previous Sunday, Charles had an incredible weekend. The thing that impresses me most about him is how quickly he learns from everything he does, getting better all the time, as a driver and as a man."
Brawn also hinted at Leclerc showing signs of emulating seven-time world champion Schumacher after winning at Spa and Monza back-to-back.
"The last Ferrari man to do that in these two races was Michael in 1996. Maybe history is beginning to repeat itself."
Race winner Charles Leclerc, Ferrari celebrates with his team in parc ferme
Photo by: Alessio Morgese / Luca Rossini
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