28/08/2020
NEWS STORY
On a morning Ferrari drivers, Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel finished 13th and 14th on the timesheets, it would appear that there are no 2019-style miracle revivals on the cards for the Maranello outfit this time around.
Another weekend of battling to make it into Q3, then struggling in the midfield come Sunday, might be enough to push Vettel's relationship with the team to the limit, but he insists that despite everything he remains committed.
"I don't look at the negatives or the bad things," said the German. "I think, first of all, I'm not counting the races. I'm going race by race and I'm trying to do my job the best I can.
"I'm always optimistic," he continued, "and rather see the opportunities than the struggles. That's the right thing to do, irrespective of what we have achieved together in the last years.
"For sure there were some moments that were not good and not great and the moments that we did not enjoy," he admitted. "But equally there were a lot of great moments, wins... a lot of positives.
"But everything I guess comes to an end at some point so it is what it is, and independent of what happens next year and the years after that, I'm trying to enjoy the time I have left with the guys that I've spent so much time with over the last years."
At a time there has been talk of the German leaving the team before the end of the season, the disparity in performance between he and his teammate leading to talk of Vettel having been all but abandoned by the team, he said: "I trust the people that I have around me, the guys in the garage.
"There's a lot of people, I've said this before, who have given me so much over the years so it's only a sign of respect to give everything that I have back as well, independent from the amount of races that I have left for the team."
Check out our Friday gallery from Spa, here.