Vettel admits to being a sore loser

Even before the season started, Sebastian Vettel acknowledged that he still had a hunger for victories and that he was always annoyed when someone else won, which is undoubtedly a good thing. Behind the wheel of a slightly less competitive RB8, the Red Bull driver saw Lewis Hamilton dominate the pole position and Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso win the first two races of the season. After an encouraging second place in Australia, the German driver was in fourth place in Malaysia when he crossed paths – and his rear tire, the front wing – with Narain Karthikeyan’s HRT: I lost a solid fourth place and it’s obviously disappointing. Sometimes, you let your emotions show, and I don’t think anyone should be ashamed of that acknowledges the German in Sport Bild.

The German, who had honored his Indian counterpart with a middle finger and unflattering comments to the media, does not hide that he is a sore loser: “It’s true, I can only be bad when I lose. Why should I lie? If I could take defeat well, I wouldn’t be in Formula One. I was disappointed,” explained the German double world champion. “Right after the race, I felt I had to be honest rather than play the role of the smiling guy,” continued Sebastian Vettel, who had called Karthikeyan an “idiot” and a “gherkin.” The HRT driver was not left behind by calling the German a “crybaby.” These exchanges of pleasantries were first attributed by Force India drivers to emotions expressed in the heat of the moment after the race: “I think Vettel was under the influence of emotion at that time. He lost points, he was frustrated for himself and his team. At the end of the day, he’s just human, and sometimes you give in to emotion,” explained Nico Hülkenberg while Paul di Resta was convinced that “a lot of things were said in the heat of the moment.”

Sebastian Vettel also acknowledges that he could sometimes lack perspective: “Sometimes it takes ten minutes after the end of the race to return to your normal state, and sometimes you need a night’s sleep to gain perspective on things and look to the future positively. When I took out Jenson Button at Spa in 2010, I apologized to him the next day,” indicates the German in reference to a collision that earned him the nickname “crash-kid” from McLaren.

After failing to score points in Malaysia, the Red Bull driver has only 18 points in the drivers’ standings, where he holds 6th place. But the German remains optimistic: « From a purely sporting point of view, I have more points today than I did at the same time in 2010, when I won the title. So, I’m only looking forward. »

On his blog, the Red Bull driver assures that he approaches the rest of the season with unwavering confidence in his team: « After a few days of rest, I went to the Milton Keynes factory to meet the team and work on the car. I acknowledge that the first two races weren’t exactly perfect, but they weren’t bad either. We showed that we were capable of competing with the strongest teams and that is very important. […] We still have 18 races to go, and we will do everything to defend our titles. I have complete faith in the team, in the car, and in myself. There is always more to do for us, but together, as a team, we can achieve anything. »