Ferrari’s Jock Clear believes Sebastian Vettel will use his defeat to Lewis Hamilton to come back with “unfinished business” in 2019.
The German was considered the favourite to clinch a fifth world title returning from the summer break despite having had difficult races in Germany and Hungary which had seen his main rival take maximum points.
Instead, from Monza onwards, it appeared the pressure became too much as several errors crept in both by driver and team even if Clear believes it is that environment that Vettel enjoys.
“The fact is, drivers of his calibre relish the pressure,” Ferrari’s senior performance engineer was quoted by PlanetF1. “The top athletes pit themselves against the best and the pressure is the pressure. That’s part of the job.
“I think he has enjoyed the season. There have been highs and lows. I think he said recently that losing the championship in 2009 he found more frustrating.
“I think, on the whole, he has come to this battle willing to take risks, willing to give it his all and we’re part of that.
“We’ve all done our part this year to the ups and downs.”
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With the arrival of Charles Leclerc and a growing threat from Red Bull, questions are being asked if Vettel will be able to pick himself up once again for another battle in 2019…
“I think from Seb’s point of view it just gives him more strength to come back next year and say, ‘This is unfinished business’,” Clear stated.
“We look back over the season, we look at the strengths of what is probably the strongest Ferrari season for 10 years and we build on those strengths.
“I think the win in Austin is a testament to the fact that the team does come back and does fight back and we did understand some of the issues we uncovered in the second third of the season.
“The fact is that over the course of 21 races you have to score more points than the opposition.”