Formula One: Don’t write me off, says Sebastian Vettel after his winter of discontent

 
Andy Hodgson13 March 2014

Defiant Sebastian Vettel today told doubters writing off his chances of a fifth-consecutive title: You’re making a big mistake.

The 26-year-old has endured a nightmare pre-season with engine problems meaning his Red Bull car has often ground to a halt.

The troubles mean Vettel is, incredibly, eighth in the betting to win Sunday’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix and second to claim the championship behind Britain’s Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes.

Vettel accepts Mercedes are the team to beat in Melbourne but still believes he can emulate fellow German Michael Schumacher in winning five straight titles.

Dismissing a suggestion at a press conference that the title would be beyond him, he said: “That’s unfair to say. Our season testing, our preparation hasn’t been ideal, and we’re not in the best position for this race.

“But it’s a different story for the championship because there is a long way to go.

“Two years ago I remember being on pole and Fernando Alonso was 1.5 seconds behind me but he came very close to beating me for the title at the very last race.

“So it shows anything can happen. That’s why this race is important as any other, and there are a lot of races to go. Of course, we know we’re not in the best shape and there are a lot of things we need to solve but unfortunately you can’t solve them all overnight. We’d love to, but we can’t.

“We have to go step by step, be as precise as we can, trying to give the best feedback possible to the engineers.”

Mercedes have coped best with the new turbo‑charged hybrid engine. They racked up the most miles of the teams in testing and Hamilton topped the timesheets at the final session in Bahrain this month.

Felipe Massa, who will race with Williams this season after nine years at Ferrari, today tipped Mercedes to win the constructors’ championship but Hamilton tried to play down expectations.

“Everyone’s talking us up and predicting the future but we really can’t say what’s going to happen this weekend,” said Hamilton, who finished fourth last year.

“We know we’ll be strong, we’ve not left any stone unturned, we’ve done absolutely everything we can possibly do, so we’re hoping we’ll be at the front, that’s our goal. But we can’t say that will be the case.”

Hamilton won the title with McLaren in 2008 and added: “That feels like a lifetime ago — but I’m still here and actually a lot more motivated than ever and more focused.”

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