Sebastian Vettel has called it a "dream" that he is entering the summer break on top of the driver standings. Since the Australian Grand Prix, the first round of the season, the German has held first place in the championship. Currently, he leads his rival Lewis Hamilton by 14 points.
Vettel is in his third season with Ferrari. After a somewhat joyful 2015 where he picked up three wins, 2016 took a turn downhill as Ferrari slipped behind Red Bull, failing to win a race all season. Vettel became very frustrated and vocal but seems to have revived in the wake of Ferrari's championship surge.
It's the first time Vettel has had a chance of claiming the title since 2013, the last year before the hybrid era was introduced. The 30-year-old has always said that he won't focus on the championship until after the summer break, admitting it is a dream to be on top at this stage.
"It's what I dream about, to be honest. I want to win, so that's where you want to be. I don't have very precise dreams in terms of gaps, points and stuff like that. I think all in all, the mission has been to get back to the top, so obviously we had a great year, I'm only two-and-a-half years in with the team.
"I think we had a great year in 2015, which helped to get the project going. 2016 was difficult, I think, for many reasons, but I think it was a great year to set things up, a lot of change for the team. Over the winter I think we were the team that made the least noise.
"There was a lot of talk about the new cars and the new regulations and how it will favour one team over the other and how it will bring back other teams and so on. I was very happy that we just worked, we just kept to ourselves and did the job."
Fergal Walsh
Local time
Local time
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
Replies (0)
Login to reply