“Seb and Charles’ cars are identical”

(Motorsport-Total.com) – The Ferrari team has speculated that Charles Leclerc’s SF1000 may be technically different from Sebastian Vettel’s car, relegated to the realm of fairy tales: “The cars of Seb and Charles are undoubtedly identical”, clarifies the boss team Mattia Binotto to the colleagues of the Italian TV of ‘Sky’.

Previously, Vettel Ferrari hadn’t speculated about manipulation, but it ignited a bit that Leclerc could possibly get more material. For example, when he bit his teeth once again in Leclerc’s time in a free practice session in Portimao, he was amazed by the box radio: “That’s all there is in the car. At least in this car” .

And in post-race televised interviews, Vettel indicated it was “obvious” that “the other car is significantly faster”. He probably just wanted to express that he currently sees no country against Leclerc. But then the phrase “Charles” instead of “the other machine” would help prevent the conspiracy theories from feeding further.

When Vettel sits next to Binotto in the Ferrari media panel on Sunday evening, his analysis goes like this: “I have to believe we have the same car and I trust the people in my garage.” By this he means the group of three or four engineers who are explicitly assigned to him. One could interpret the top, Binotto and Co., probably less.

Vettel: Where does Leclerc take control from?

“The stopwatch is one thing,” says Vettel. “The other is my feeling. I really have a hard time doing good laps together, being consistent and feeling the grip that Charles obviously feels. I’m working on it. I have no choice but to work hard to get me out of there.”

Or just wait until the season is over. “This year is lost”, feared “Mister DTM” Bernd Schneider on the niche channel ‘SPORT1’. “I think Vettel cannot wait for the year to end. As he may present himself at the moment, he will not be satisfied. I can only cross my fingers that it will be better next year.”

“He’s still young and he’s still bitten. He’ll still want to prove Ferrari was wrong. I’m convinced we’ll still see a lot of positive things from him,” says Schneider, who has a long-standing relationship with Vettel. “I know him from karts. […] I saw his talent and was convinced that he was going his way. “

Trust that Ferrari has long since lost to Vettel. “I really hope Sebastian qualifies higher at Imola,” Binotto said. “Then maybe he can prove what he’s made of in the race”. Vettel nods: “Our weakness is Saturday. Sunday I only have problems because I’m stuck in traffic. The races are obviously difficult.”

It is also clear: “Charles is certainly very good. But we could expect a little more from the second driver,” said Binotto, criticizing the longtime Ferrari team number 1, who slipped to number 2 in 2020. These “talk about it,” says Vettel, “doesn’t really matter” to him. But: “Of course it hurts. My expectations are much higher than expectations from the outside.”

Vettel: “Maybe I’m a complete idiot?”

For the “other side” (he means Leclerc) things are simply easier, the four-time world champion soberly states: “Some idiot may never understand this, but what if I’m a complete idiot? I dare to doubt it. At some point you should be lucky and go cornering. “

The 33-year-old cancels the theory according to which Vettel does not face the tight limit of Ferrari as well as Leclerc and that a possible loose rear gives him a headache: “I don’t think so. I’ve been driving for a long time. Sometimes you like a car it’s better. sometimes worse “.

“But you try to adapt to this as best you can. You always have to do it anyway, and that’s the case this year too. Nothing has changed in that regard. It’s more about the question of how much grip you feel and how you feel Charles might feel something. different from me in that sense. What is clear is that for some reason I am not as fast as him. “

An issue that is not specific to Ferrari in 2020. The Red Bull RB16 is also considered difficult to drive. Max Verstappen hits the “sweet spot” perhaps tighter than Alexander Albon. You can see from Pierre Gasly that this doesn’t have to be just because of his driving talent. It wasn’t cool at Red Bull 2019, but it blooms in the more good-natured AlphaTauri.

Leclerc leaves everything cold: “I only look at myself,” he says. “I feel good in the car. We have brought some updates and they seem to go in the direction of my driving style. This helps me.” He has certainly improved as a driver in 2019. “I’m trying to improve from race to race. And right now he’s going very well,” says Monegasse.