Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene has defended Sebastian Vettel after the German’s now infamous radio outbursts in Mexico.
Arrivabene said that Vettel was simply an emotional person, and that his reactions did not reflect any frustration at Ferrari’s disappointing performance in 2017.
“I have zero problem with Sebastian,” he said. “I mean, as I said many, many times, Sebastian is quite emotional. Sometimes he looks a bit more Latino than German. He’s very emotional, he’s very passionate, especially when he’s driving and it’s in a racing battle. It’s not a question of frustration.
“Sometimes he can be unhappy as we are unhappy because our expectations are different. But he’s not a guy who is giving up; he’s a guy that is pushing like hell. Sometimes when the adrenalin is going up to the sky, maybe he’s choosing a word more than what is expected, but then my role, like in Mexico, is also to call him and to invite him to be focused on what he’s doing.”
Meanwhile, Vettel has insisted that he can still win World Championships with Ferrari.
“Generally I think I’m positive, looking forward,” he said yesterday. “Obviously it was a big step when I decided to change, at the time when I did. It was clear that it would take some time. Obviously we had a great season last year, we got closer and closer to Mercedes, so the hopes and expectations for this year were high. I think it’s normal when you finish second in the Constructors’ you aim to finish first.
“We haven’t achieved what we set out to achieve but nevertheless our main target is to win the championship, fight for the championship, and I think there is a lot of change that I see, a lot of change that is going on inside the team that will make us stronger, I’m pretty confident about that. I guess it’s a question of time.”
