Vettel: Ferrari were in miserable shape before Arrivabene

Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene has been a key figure in transforming the Italian manufacturer’s recent results despite looking set to miss out on the Formula 1 world titles in 2017.

After Mercedes wrapped up the F1 world constructors’ title last weekend at the United States Grand Prix, Vettel needs to overhaul an huge 66-point deficit on leader Lewis Hamilton to take the drivers’ title back to Maranello since Kimi Raikkonen’s triumph in 2007.

Despite the late season frustrations, Vettel has been thrilled by Ferrari’s 2017 gains on Mercedes and Red Bull, having led the drivers' championship up to the Belgian Grand Prix, and has defended team boss Arrivabene’s influence after he recently came under fire.

“What are his strengths? Look at the results,” Vettel said. “Look at where Ferrari was after 2014, how competitive Ferrari was in 2014 and how – sorry to say – what miserable shape it was.

“The spirit was down so I think he’s the key person responsible for bringing most of that back and to make the team grow, to open things up, to change things that have been set like that for 20 years before that, just because they used to be like that. So I think he has a very innovative and creative way of thinking.

“I think he’s the right man, he’s a very strong leader, I think he’s well respected and I know he’s well respected by all the people. If you look at a hierarchical way, no matter which level of the company, absolutely I’m a fan.”

Vettel remains confident F1 world titles “are coming” for Ferrari even though its recent reliability problems effectively ended its 2017 charge and is keen to see the team continue to build for the final three races of the year before heading into 2018.

“The most important thing is that if you look at the result, it’s coming,” he said. “This year we would like it to be a bit different, especially towards the end but these things happen, but we’re still growing and we set ourselves the target at the very beginning to grow and to do something new, something different and we’re still on that journey.

“The expectations are always high, you finish second in the championship, the year after you want to win, you don’t manage to do that but I think where we’ve gone, ’15 to ’16, especially through ’16 and then for ’17, things are going and heading the right way and he’s a key person in that.”