04/09/2010
NEWS STORY
A driver who wears his heart very much on his sleeve, Sebastian Vettel admits that he has made too many mistakes this year, but insists he can still win the title.
While there have been some stunning performances, Belgium has to be a low point in the young German's career. As we have seen countless times, rather than wait that little bit longer, the Red Bull driver is prone to impetuous moves that all too often end in disaster. In Belgium, another rash, needless, move led to the elimination of Jenson Button and effectively ended Vettel's race - compromising both drivers' title bids in the process.
As he looks ahead to Monza, the scene of his first ever F1 victory, Vettel admits to his errors but insists that the title is still winnable and that he's determined to prove it.
"Formula One is a great show, and if all goes well, you're the greatest," he told Auto Bild Motorsport. "But if you make an error, and some people simply do not understand exactly the reasons why, then you very quickly become the idiot.
"The most important thing is I know truth," he continued. "In Hungary I slept during the safety car and made a mistake, and again when I lost the car when overtaking Jenson. But I am open and honest enough to admit that. I'm not proud of it. But you can't change anything except to try and ensure it doesn't happen again. In the end, making a mistake makes you a better driver. I am someone who, after sleeping on things for a night, can look at everything positively."
Despite starting from pole seven times this season, Vettel has only once (Valencia) converted it into a win. Indeed, despite having arguably the best car, and a team very much behind him, he is on the same number of wins as his teammate, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso and 31 points adrift of championship leader Lewis Hamilton.
Nonetheless, he insists that all is not lost: "In the first 13 races not everything has gone smoothly," he admits, a masterpiece of understatement, "but I am only 31 points behind.
"We are a team, and although we have had big problems, we have still scored many points," he continues. "That's not because we have been lucky, but because our package is extremely strong. So I do not worry about me. I know how good we are, but I want the title like nothing else this year."
While there is no doubting that he wants the title, one cannot help but feel that the German - who is all too often his worst enemy - would be best advised to take heed of Michael Winner and "calm down...."