Vettel and Ferrari won’t give up hope

– Sebastian Vettel (right) believes he can bounce back to overhaul Lewis Hamilton in this year’s Formula One world championship despite trailing by 30 points after Sunday’s tumultuous Italian Grand Prix.

The four-time champion German said he felt he and his team had let down Ferrari’s passionate tifosi by failing to win after locking out the front row of the grid.

But, he said, he was assured by the way in which he recovered from his first lap spin to finish fourth in a car damaged when he made contact with Hamilton’s Mercedes as the Briton went past him at the second chicane.

“It was unfortunate for us to get spun around and have a lot

Monza

of damage, but it could have also been him,” he said.

“Given I was looking the wrong way after four corners and last, finishing in fourth with effectively the same strategy as everybody else was a decent recovery after the damage we had.”

As to recovering a deficit of 30 points, he said he was not worried. “I think we have the pace,” he said.

“The points sound a lot, but actually it doesn’t take a long time to get them down.”

Many pundits suggested Vettel and Ferrari are making too many strategic and tactical mistakes to resist the momentum of Hamilton, despite the Italian team clearly having a faster car. –