Vettel shrugs off neck pain to ‘fight like a lion’

SEBASTIAN VETTEL was hailed for ‘fighting like a lion’ after overcoming pain to win the British Grand Prix. Despite suffering from a neck injury throughout the weekend, the German overtook title rival Lewis Hamilton at the start of yeterday’s race to set him on course for a first win at Silverstone since 2009. ‘The most important problem for Seb was his neck,’ Maurizio Arrivabene, the Ferrari team principal, said. ‘It was really hurting yesterday and this morning he got a lot of treatment. ‘Before the race I was really very concerned about him. Today he fought like a lion.’ Vettel suffered the neck strain on Friday and was forced to miss the end of the second practice session. It was so severe, he almost withdrew from qualifying on Saturday morning. But treatment from Ferrari’s physiotherapists, strapping on his neck and extra padding in his headrest helped Vettel negotiate the 52-lap race. ‘Thanks to the team for supporting me and also the people in the background because yesterday I was a bit damaged,’ Vettel said. ‘I wasn’t sure I could do qualifying and it wasn’t very enjoyable because my neck was stiff. ‘I was a bit concerned going into the race but we managed to loosen it up a bit and I was fine, probably a bit of adrenaline helped. The neck held up and that was a race I enjoyed a lot.’ A bold move down the inside of Valtteri Bottas four laps from home took Vettel into the lead and gave him his fourth win of the season and an eight-point championship lead. ‘I think I surprised Valtteri and I wasn’t sure I’d make the corner but I did and it worked really well,’ Vettel said. ‘I’m very, very happy with the result.’