VETTEL ‘WON’T LOSE SLEEP’ OVER ERROR

SEBASTIAN VETTEL insists he will not lose any sleep despite crashing out from the lead of the German Grand Prix and handing the championship advantage to rival Lewis Hamilton.

Ferrari driver Vettel had been in charge of his home race, and looked destined to extend his lead in the standings to as many as 21 points, before his stunning, and potentially title-deciding, mistake.

Vettel will now head to the final race before Formula One’s summer break in Hungary next Sunday 17 points behind his rival.

The flashpoint came with just

15 laps of the Hockenheim race remaining. Following a rain shower, Vettel lost control of his car in the slippery conditions at the slower-speed stadium section, and skidded across the track, and into the gravel, before hitting the tyre wall.

The German was furious with his mistake, bashing both hands on the steering wheel seven times. “F*** sake, f*** sake,’’ he yelled over the radio. “Sorry, guys. S***.”

Vettel got out of his Ferrari cockpit, and trudged across the gravel, kicking his right foot at the sand in frustration.

The glum 31-year-old then apologised to team principal Maurizio Arrivabene before sheepishly making his way along the remainder of the Ferrari pit wall to say sorry for his error.

“It was a huge mistake and it had a huge impact on the race because we retired,” Vettel said. “But it is not like tonight I will have difficulties to fall asleep because of what I have done wrong.

“The conditions were the same for everyone, but I was a tiny bit too late on the brakes. We don’t need to analyse what happened. We had the pace, we controlled the race, and it ended in the sandpit.”

The accident marked Vettel’s seventh high-profile mistake in one-and-a-half seasons of battling Hamilton for the championship. (© Daily Telegraph, London)