Vettel holds a huge 77-point lead over nearest challenger Alonso in the championship with five races to go, starting at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend. PHOTO: AFP
The Red Bull man led from pole to the chequered flag at Sunday’s Korean Grand Prix, meaning he will retain his crown if he wins again this week and Fernando Alonso is not in the top eight.
But after another dominant victory – his fourth in as many races – in front of a modest crowd at Yeongam, the 26-year-old Vettel said: “No win is inevitable.
“Sure, there’s some sort of expectation as things went so well in the immediate past and also because I like Suzuka a lot.
“But I would find it inappropriate to sort of bank on winning.”
Meanwhile, two-time world champion Alonso saw his title bid all but dissolve as he started fifth and came home in sixth. He warned that Ferrari can not expect ‘miracles’ this year.
“It wasn’t a surprise to be off the pace in qualifying, as that’s been the case since the start of the season, but the fact that we didn’t have the pace in the race was [a surprise],” he said.
“Now we must think only about Suzuka and try rediscovering the form we usually have on Sunday.”
Pirelli want action on tyre testing
Pirelli have urged Formula One teams to give them the tools to do their job rather than complaining their tyres are not good enough.
The Italian company was again in the line of fire at the weekend’s Korean Grand Prix, with Ferrari’s Alonso and Red Bull’s Mark Webber complaining about how quickly the tyres wore out. McLaren’s Sergio Perez also suffered an explosive delamination of his front right tyre during the race.
However, Pirelli motorsport head Paul Hembery told reporters on Sunday that the real concern was about how the tyres would behave with the changes expected next year.
“We’re running around in a 2010 car, developing tyres for the 2014 car, which nobody really knows what it’s going to look like,” said Hembery. “Yet every time we even ask to test with a 2011 car we come up against opposition.
“Going forward, to do what we need to do, we need to have the ability to test and help everybody — drivers and teams.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 8th, 2013.
Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ