Vettel has Ferrari back on track

MONTREAL - Sebastian Vettel never promised any miracles when he rocked the very foundations of Formula 1 last season by announcing he was leaving Red Bull — where he had won four consecutive world championships — to join the legendary Ferrari team.

Yet in the first six Grands Prix of the 2015 season, he pretty much has delivered a extraordinary performance that has lifted the hopes of Tifosi the world over.

The past five seasons have not been kind to Ferrari — arguably the world’s most famous motor racing team.

First, it was Vettel himself behind the wheel of the Red Bull Renault that dominated Ferrari and F-1, winning seemingly at will.

Then last season, Mercedes, with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, tore up the series scoring 16 wins in 19 races.

Ferrari was embarrassed, posting no wins and falling to fourth in the constructor championship.

Those numbers precipitated a major overhaul at the management level of the Italian team, with new people — starting with racing boss Maurizio Arrivabene — brought in to to try to at least stem the bleeding.

The team was then stung with the announcement by two-time world champion Fernando Alonso that he wanted out.

He subsequently signed a huge deal with McLaren.

All while this was going on, Ferrari principals were meeting behind the scenes with Vettel, trying to lure him to its racing headquarters in Maranello.

When that deal was done, it was thought that Ferrari had given itself and its legion of fans a respite of at least one season to right the ship.

But they didn’t count on Vettel’s skill level being the big difference.

In the first race at Australia, he notched a third-place podium finish.

While many dismissed it as a fluke, Vettel came right back and started on the front row at Malaysia and brought Ferrari its first F-1 win in almost two full seasons.

In the four Grands Prix since then, he has been on the podium three times — third in Shanghai, third in Spain and second in Monte Carlo.

What Vettel really delivered, however, was hope.

There is no denying that even with the incredible results this season, Ferrari has a big mountain to climb to be on par with Mercedes — Vettel himself admits that.

But he said on Thursday, on the eve of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, that Ferrari is on the right path and the results have been better that he thought possible.

“So far, it has been better than what anyone expected,” Vettel said. “We’ve had a good start, a lot of podiums and one win in Malaysia which, in a way, was a dream come true.

“We have more reasons to keep dreaming.”

The 27-year-old German threw out the notion that given the results so far in 2015. he would not be surprised if Ferrari can equal the Mercedes juggernaut.

“We have good people on board, we have the knowledge but we just need a bit more time,” Vettel said.

“How much is difficult to say but if we keep doing like this, I’m confident at some point we will catch Mercedes.”

Still, he doesn’t want to get too far ahead of himself after only half a dozen races.

Ferrari will use an ungraded power package this week at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve to give the team another boost, but Vettel thinks slow and steady is the way to go.

“Everyone has the ability to have an update and we decided to have one here,” he said. “Hopefully it is a step in right direction and brings us a bit closer, but you cannot expect miracles from one day to another.”

Well, so far he has delivered, if not a miracle, at least a step in that direction.

Meanwhile, Vettel responded on Thursday to criticism from F-1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone that he is partially to blame for the German Grand Prix being cut from the schedule this season.

Ecclestone said last week that Vettel and Rosberg don’t do enough to promote the series in their home country, the way that Briton Hamilton does in England.

“(Ecclestone) is old enough to say what he wants,” Vettel told AUTOSPORT magazine: “I still get along very well with him.

“He has certain opinions about some things which is fine, but I’m not too bothered.

“I am looking after myself and trying to do the best job for myself and the team.

“That is the highest priority. It’s what I’m here to do.”

And so far that has worked out pretty well for both him and Ferrari.

For me it is a more intimate race than perhaps somewhere else, even though Monza is now more of a home race. I still have a very, very good relationship with Mateschitz, & also with all the others. It’s not as though we had a dispute. Even though I am no longer part of Red Bull, I do still feel connected in some way.

croatic f1 je napisao/la:Na današnji dan, prije 8 godina, u Formuli 1 je debitirao Sebastian Vettel na VN SAD-a vozeći za momčad BMW-Sauber kao zamjena ozlijeđenom Kubici



Cccc, moji Vettelovci, na šta ste spali, da se jedan Alonsovac prvi ovog prisjeti...