Sebastian Vettel believes Ferrari fell short of challenging Mercedes at “too many races” during 2018, hampering his championship chances.
While the Scuderia once again pushed their Anglo-German rivals throughout the season, even having the quicker car for a time, there were still occasions when the Mercedes was untouchable.
Spain, France and Singapore to Sochi were notable times when Lewis Hamilton dominated and for Vettel, ensuring such periods don’t happen again in 2019 are the key to fighting for the title.
“Better performance, I think it is very simple,” he told Autosport at the FIA gala about where improvements are needed.
“We had our races where we were very close and very competitive, and overall our car this year has been more of an all-around car which worked on all tracks.
“We had our highlights and I think most of them we used, but then we had too many races where we were not quite there. Sometimes [it was] by a tenth or two but sometimes a bit more, where we were left with not much to do over a weekend.
“That is something we must fix and try to control better going into next year.”
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Looking back on the year, however, Vettel enjoyed a number of moments picking out two wins for recognition.
“I would say Bahrain [as a season highlight] because initially, I didn’t like it, but now I really love it,” he explained.
“I loved the trophy after the race. It was a tight battle [with Valtteri Bottas] after the last laps so it was good to hang onto the lead until the end.
“Then I think the other one that has to be mentioned is Canada, especially as it was 40 years after Gilles [Villeneuve] with Ferrari [won]. It was a very emotional day.”