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Vettel happy out of limelight

Vettel happy out of limelight

07/26/2010 09:16:41 AM

Sebastian Vettel says he is pleased to be out of the spotlight after Ferrari's controversial one-two finish in the German Formula One Grand Prix at the weekend.

Vettel spent an uncomfortable week in the media glare alongside team-mate Mark Webber after the latter's victory in the British Grand Prix led to rumours of a rift in the Red Bull Racing camp.

The allegations arose after Webber's car was stripped of a new front wing that was subsequently handed to Vettel, an affront the Australian perceived as preferential treatment.

After taking the chequered flag at Silverstone, Webber sniped over the team radio 'not bad for a No.2 driver', a comment he later dismissed as Australian sarcasm.

Now the kerfuffle between Vettel and Webber has been eclipsed by a much larger controversy after it appeared Ferrari driver Felipe Massa was illegally instructed to hand team-mate Fernando Alonso the lead during the race at Hockenheim to bolster the latter's chances in the drivers' championship.

But Vettel was quick to bat away questions about Ferrari's conduct.

"I cannot - and don't want to - make any comment," he told www.formula1.com.

"What matters is that the guys who are in front of us in the standings finished behind us today."

"The most important thing for me was to finish ahead of the McLarens, even though I think that as a team they took more points than us."

"In the end I don't really care about other teams - this will be taken care of by others. We have to focus on us as we already had our share of troubles for various reasons this year."

Vettel, who started in pole position on his home circuit, dropped behind Massa and Alonso on the first bend after bungling his start in similar fashion to his error at Silverstone.

The German doggedly held on to third place for the next 62 laps, a position he says was the best possible result given the circumstances.

"When I let the coupler in the engine speed went south and I lost a lot of speed," he said.

"I then concentrated on Fernando, trying to close the door, but he was already at my side so this was fruitless. And then came the big surprise that Felipe came from the other side and passed the both of us."

"After that we probably were a little too slow with our race pace - probably a crucial two-tenths a lap - and that was the end of it."

"It would have been great to leave Hockenheim with a couple more points but today it simply didn't work as well as it did on Friday and Saturday, so P3 is okay and obviously was our maximum today."

The 2010 Formula One season moves to Budapest next weekend.

 
Photograph Copyright : Getty Images
Comments
Posted by Andy Welch at
27/07/2010 01:33 PM
Why aren't we all talking about Vettel's tactics at the start of the last 2 races? He has swerved off the start into the line of the 2nd car on the grid (dangerously) both times! Ferraris antics may have overshadowed Vettel's unsportsmanlike behauviour but why isn't it being addressed?
Posted by Peter Stephens at
28/07/2010 05:06 PM
Absolutetly agree with AW that Vettel's start tactics are backfiring on him and are dangerous to all around him. Mark Webber was so focused on his start in the British GP it didn't matter but Alonso in the German GP paid the price at the start. Christian Horner needs to have a word to him

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