Sebastian Vettel has accepted it was “not right” to have ignored Ferrari’s instruction to allow teammate Charles Leclerc through at the Russian Grand Prix.
After agreeing to tow the German into second place on the run to Turn 2, it was stipulated that the four-time world champion would allow the Monegasque back ahead if he took the lead in the process.
Having done so, however, he opted to stay ahead, against the wishes of Ferrari, and though some confusion played a role, he admits he still defied the team.
“I got the message on the radio to change the places and did not do it, that was certainly not right,” Vettel conceded via RaceFans on Thursday.
“We spoke about it [after the race] obviously, more than once, but I think it’s pretty clear. We didn’t write anything in stone. I don’t think it’s necessary.
“Probably there are certain things that we could’ve done better looking back but in the end, we look forward to this race and the next races. So not worried too much.”
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Vettel was then asked if Leclerc’s recent domination, including outqualifying Seb in nine straight races and winning back-to-back races at Spa and Monza, had influenced his thinking in the car.
“No, not at all,” he told Crash.net. “Obviously I’m not happy if I am slower, whether it’s practice, qualifying or race but that has been the same, not just this year but years before as well.
“There are certain things this year I’ve struggled with here and there with the car which didn’t allow me to extract my best,” Vettel conceded. “[But] I don’t think it would have been any different if anyone else was in the car.
“Charles is doing a very good job, but I think it’s largely and I genuinely believe it’s first a race against yourself and then the others.
“In that regard, I struggled to extract what I know I have in me. On the other side, it also very quickly looks different on the outside than it does on the inside.
“There have been races where things didn’t fall into place and therefore things didn’t look great on the outside, but I think we were tackling the right things on the inside. So I’m not worried.”