F1: Mercedes Chief Defends Vettel But Insists Hamilton Is The Best

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff defended Sebastian Vettel after the German came under criticism after he threw away his chance to win the Italian Grand Prix and close the gap to Lewis Hamilton in the title race.

It is widely believed in the Formula 1 paddock that Vettel and Ferrari have the best car on the grid this season at least in terms of pure performance. But they still find themselves trailing Mercedes and Hamilton in both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ championship.

Ferrari and Vettel have made a string of errors during the course of the campaign which is the main reason for them trailing their title rivals. The Italian team are keen to dethrone Mercedes, who have dominated the sport for the last four seasons.

The German could have been leading Hamilton by more than the 30 points he currently trails the British racer had it not been for errors during four races this season. It started at the French Grand Prix when he locked his brakes and collided with Valtteri Bottas, then in Austria, the German was handed a grid penalty for blocking Carlos Sainz during qualifying and the biggest one came in Germany when he crashed out of the race while holding a comfortable lead over the rest of the grid.

Vettel’s most recent mistake came at the Italian Grand Prix when he collided with title rival Hamilton on the opening lap by being overly aggressive on the opening lap. He fell to the back of the field and had to settle for a fourth place finish as his main rival went on to take his sixth win of the season.

The Ferrari driver came in for criticism after his latest error with many believing that he has thrown away his best chance of winning a fifth title despite possessing the better car. However, Wolff has defended the four-time world champion suggesting that to become a multiple world champion a certain aggressive mindset is required.

Despite his defense of the Ferrari driver, the Mercedes chief insists that Hamilton is the best driver on the grid at the moment and has been so in recent years.

“I’m not completely neutral, but for me Lewis is the best driver of recent years,” Wolff told Die Welt newspaper, as quoted on Planet F1. “Even so, I find the criticism of Sebastian not quite fair.”

“If possible to win, he has the ambition to do it with the necessary aggression. That requires a lot of courage and his way of driving sometimes leads to collisions. But let’s not forget that he won four world championships. As I do with Lewis, you have to accept that,” the Mercedes chief added.

Vettel will have a chance to claw back the deficit as the F1 juggernaut arrives on the streets of Singapore for the second night race of the season. There are seven races to go and the German is confident that he still has a chance to overhaul Hamilton before the end of the season.