Sebastian Vettel is not fixated by ending his year-long winless streak but does admit the Italian Grand Prix offers a “good chance”.
A lowly fourth-place finish last weekend at Spa means the German has now gone a full season without a scoring a victory, his longest drought since 2016.
But with Ferrari expected to be the team to beat at Monza and on a circuit where Vettel has won three times before, he doesn’t see it as his best chance to win.
“I don’t think so as I have lots of races ahead but I am not looking to where I am in 10 races time, this is the weekend I am focused on,” he said on Thursday.
“We are not the clear favourites [this weekend] but there are signs that we are aware of that means we are in a good position. I think we have to be carefully optimistic and realistic.
“I see it as a chance but then again you always have a chance when you are on the grid no matter where you start from, but surely we want to try to start at the front as it gives you a higher chance and then we can carry that into the race.”
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Ferrari start as favourites at Monza because of their significant advantage on the straights this season and particularly last weekend in Belgium.
However, the Scuderia is certainly not being complacent in their approach.
“I can’t predict because it is a similar track [to Spa] but very different in terms of how the cars are setup,” Vettel explained.
“I hope we can be as competitive as last weekend. In relative terms it is difficult to say, we’ve seen the trend in qualifying that we seem to have a bit of an edge on these types of tracks whereas in the races everything moves closer together.
“I expect the main challenge to be looking after the tyres, finding the right setup and the right balance in the car to feel comfortable to extract the maximum.
“I hope that it will be tight and I hope we have something to say in it. Mercedes has been in a position to win nearly every race weekend and for us, it has not been like that so for us to get more chances like that it is better for us.”
One group eager for a Ferrari win is the Tifosi, who haven’t seen their team win at home since 2010, and the four-time world champion expects they will play a key role too.
“I’ve been on the podium a couple of times but not on the top step [for Ferrari],” Vettel noted.
“It is a big thing and it is the biggest race for us, a big weekend no doubt and we saw yesterday the passion that there is.
“I am sure we will also see that throughout the weekend and I am sure it will give us a boost but how much it is difficult to predict but I think now is the time to overdeliver.
“Hopefully we can make it count this time as we have a good chance so we’ll see. We are ready I guess.”
