Vettel admits "really poor start" was own fault as he finishes P2 from pole
F1 News
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Pole sitter Sebastian Vettel admitted the poor start he had at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix was of his own doing, as the German almost jump-started and gave away the race lead to the charging Valtteri Bottas, who went on to win the race and seal the constructors' championship for Mercedes.
Despite locking out the front row at Suzuka, no Ferrari driver led the race into turn one as Bottas squeezed his way through the red cars, with Vettel's teammate Charles Leclerc getting tangled up with Max Verstappen at turn two.
After the race, in which he held off Lewis Hamilton to finish second, Vettel admitted it was his mistake that led to the poor start.
"The lights were on a long time, so it was my mistake," the 32-year-old admitted to Paul di Resta.
"I lost the momentum. It was a really poor start.
"Mercedes were quite fast in the race, Valtteri Bottas was flying at the end of the first stint, Lewis tried to do one stop and it didn't work. I just tried to get good exits where he could be a threat, but a tough afternoon to maintain second.
"With the lack of pace, second is probably the maximum but I'm not happy with the very first start of the race. To get pole and second is a reasonable day."
Vettel is officially out of contention for the drivers' championship as well now, with just Bottas and Hamilton fighting for it now with four races to go.