ALL VETTS ARE OFF
Seb warns Hamilton anything can happen in Monaco
SEBASTIAN VETTEL has fired a warning to Lewis Hamilton and vowed to rip up the form book in Monte Carlo.
The Ferrari driver was expected to challenge the reigning champion for the title again, but has so far endured a miserable season.
He has managed just two podium finishes, while Hamilton and Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas have recorded five successive one-two finishes.
That has piled the pressure on four-time champion Vettel, who knows only victory in Monaco tomorrow can shift the momentum in Ferrari’s direction.
But it is Hamilton who is favourite to start on pole position after topping the practice timesheets on Thursday. And while Vettel (above, main picture) accepts Mercedes have a superior car, the German insists the tight and twisty street circuit means he has every chance of upsetting the odds.
He said: “I don’t think we need time, I think we understood in Barcelona that we are just not quick enough.
“We are not happy with that so we are working very hard trying to make a difference.
“This track is unique and anything can happen this weekend, so it’s probably irrelevant what the paper might say or the form of the last five races might suggest. Coming here, anything can happen.”
At this stage last year Vettel sat second in the standings, 17 points behind leader Hamilton. But 12 months on, the Ferrari racer is languishing in fourth and a daunting 48 points behind the British star (above).
That means the famous Italian team, once the home of Michael Schumacher, are facing a 12th year without a championship victory since Kimi Raikkonen triumphed in 2007.
And Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto accepts that their confidence has slumped since pre-season winter testing suggested they were quicker than the Silver Arrows.
He said: “Certainly let me say after winter testing our confidence in the performance was higher than today, no doubt.
“I think if you look as well at the classification today there are a lot of points to be recovered.
“But the goal is still the same. Looking race by race, trying to optimise the car, trying to develop the car and show that we have potential in developing a car and understanding its technical base concept.
“As a team, we need to show that we are still improving ourselves day by day and I think by doing so and I think by looking race by race, I think the sum again will be done on the very end.”