Sebastian Vettel fought until the last lap of the Mexican Grand prix but ultimately lost all his chances to continue challenging Lewis Hamilton for the 2017 Formula 1 title.
“I know the team has been working hard, doing their best, but we didn’t achieve what we wanted to”, Vettel admitted
“It’s hard to cross the line realizing that you are not in the fight anymore. I fought to the end, giving everything I had. Then obviously in the last laps, when I had a big gap to Kimi [Raikkonen], it would have been difficult for me to close it without something happening, like a Safety Car, but I was still believing. But in the end, it didn’t happen.”
“For sure it was not a great day for us, but it’s not about us, it’s about Lewis and I congratulate him. Tomorrow you wake up and it will be a different day. The team is growing, and there are many positive aspects. Overall, I think we are on the right path.”
Raikkonen reached the podium and said that third place was not too bad after his difficulties in qualifying
“But obviously it is not what we were looking for. The start was not too bad, but then I moved to the left and lost the tow. I found myself blocked and lost many places in the first two corners. Then I had to wait for the cars in front to stop, to be able to push and gain positions. My car was a bit better than on Saturday and we had decent speed”, Kimi explained.
“Once I was third, I could try to catch up, but I was too far from Valtteri [Bottas]and there was nothing I could really do. I focused on finishing the race and on keeping my position.”
“This year we have made a good step forward from last season, but obviously we still have a few small things to improve. I think that in this season we’ve had a good and solid car. Lately, we’ve had some issues, but the speed has been there. Obviously, too many DNFs cost us a lot in the Championship. For next year we have to minimize those issues, improve things and learn from this season.”
I’LL BE BACK ?
“Next year will be a different story and we all start again…”#MexicoGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/RIUSGdCMcB
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 30, 2017
