F1 News
Vettel dismisses 2014 struggle comparison as ‘very different’
- Bevan Youl
Sebastian Vettel has said that his current season in Formula 1 with Charles Leclerc is ‘very different’ to his 2014 season with Red Bull.
Back in 2014 Vettel endured a troublesome season in the first year of the hybrid era of Formula 1 as new teammate Daniel Ricciardo mostly outperformed him throughout.
Vettel left Red Bull after that year for Ferrari to replace Fernando Alonso, and this year is posing a struggle for the German yet again.
Leclerc has been performing well, both in qualifying and on race days, coming close to winning on two occasions and posing a challenge to Vettel and Ferrari.
Vettel said to Motorsport.com as to whether this year has been similar to 2014: “No not really. Firstly, that was a long time ago and secondly, this is very different.
“When you’re talking about the frustrations I think it’s maybe here and there the end result that’s missing.
"I think in terms of the races we’ve had, they could have gone the other way as well so I think we need to be fair and not judging one particular lap.
“But it happened and the laps up to that point were quite strong. We started sixth so not by chance found ourselves third at some point.
“The safety car, you could argue helped, but we managed quite well in the first stint doing something different to other people and making it work.
“I think other races could have been different as well so I’m not too worried but I know that I can have better results come Sunday.
“I’m looking forward to Germany now.”
Although Lewis Hamilton firmly believes that Vettel will recover and battle for race wins again.
Hamilton said: “He will recover and redeem himself if he feels he needs to, and he will come back strong in the next race. That’s what great athletes do.”