Sebastian Vettel Opens Up on 2014’s F1 Disaster and Why He Can Still Beat Anyone on the Grid

The 2019 Formula One season was one to forget for poor old Sebastian Vettel as he came away with just one win and 5th in the driver’s championship. In spite of being soundly beaten by his teammate Charles Leclerc, Sebastian Vettel is still high on confidence ahead of the 2020 campaign. The Ferrari man firmly believes that he possesses the ability to beat “anyone who drives out there”.

In 2019, Vettel was beaten by a teammate for the second time in his F1 career, with the last person to do so being Daniel Ricciardo at Red Bull. Of course, with this latest serving of humble pie, many wondered if this was going to spell the end of Vettel’s F1 career.

However, Sebastian Vettel denied claims that he cannot cope when faced with strong competition in equal machinery, especially when referring to Ricciardo and now, Leclerc.

“I don’t see it that way at all,” Vettel told Motorsport Magazine. “I understand that people refer to 2014. I lost on paper and it’s fair to say that because the numbers say I lost to Daniel, but I also know that in 2014 some things did not go as we hoped they would.”

He affirmed that in 2014, his main priority was winning races, not grabbing podiums or finishing as low as fifth in the championship. Sebastian Vettel did confess that his attitude was different when put into perspective of Ricciardo’s, but in a general sense, the 2014 season was a forgettable one.

The German driver insisted that his poor 2014 form was not down to bad luck, but it was more of being ‘let down a few times’. He surmised that the car also did not work to his liking and that was what possibly skewed any judgment towards him.

Deja vu for Sebastian Vettel?

Unfortunately, the 2019 season has been just as bad and critics are of the opinion that he is past his prime and should retire. However, he assuaged that he is still the best on the grid on his day, saying that it wouldn’t make sense not to.

Interestingly, former F1 driver Martin Brundle also believes that it would be foolish to drop a driver of Vettel’s caliber though he too thinks that Seb is past his best.