Sebastian Vettel is adamant that Ferrari can avoid a repeat of last year’s Formula 1 title collapse in his bid to beat Lewis Hamilton to a fifth world title.
Vettel and Hamilton went head-to-head for the championship in 2017 and it was the Ferrari driver that led the championship heading into the summer break, until a disastrous sequence of mistakes and mechanical setbacks wrecked his hopes.
Vettel and Hamilton have again fought for this year’s championship, with the points lead exchanging hands on multiple occasions, most recently in Germany, after Vettel crashed out of his home race.
Hamilton currently holds a 24-point advantage after taking victory in Hungary, but Vettel remains certain that Ferrari has learned its lessons from 12 months ago.
“As we’ve seen this year the pendulum seems to swing once this side, once that side, obviously you know, if it’s like this, consistency is the key, and scoring points,” he said.
“I didn't do myself a favour [in Germany] but I think it’s part of racing. Stuff happens.
“Compared to last year, we lost the championship I think because our car wasn’t quick enough to be a match in the final part of the season, despite what happened with the DNFs.
“So I hope that this year, and I think this year has shown so far that our car is more efficient, our car is stronger and still has a lot of potential to unleash.
“I’m quite confident with what’s sitting in the pipeline that we can improve. So, we’ll see. It should be an exciting second part of the year.”
