Vettel: No regrets on Bottas pass lock-up

Sebastian Vettel says he doesn’t regret risking his overtake for the lead on Valtteri Bottas which saw him ultimately drop off the podium at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix thanks to Ferrari’s superior pace in 2018.

The Ferrari driver has lost his grip on the Formula 1 world championship lead after finishing in fourth place at the frantic Azerbaijan race which he had largely controlled from the start until an untimely safety car saw Bottas serve his mandatory pit stop and get back out ahead of his German rival.

At the safety car restart Vettel gambled on a dive up the inside of the Mercedes driver at Turn 1 but locked up and was sent wide which dropped him behind Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen and eventually Sergio Perez into fifth. Vettel received a late reprise as Bottas was forced out one lap later with a puncture, further damning the Ferrari driver’s overtake attempt, but he says he has zero doubts about his attack.

“Without the safety car it would have been a different race. We had a decent restart and I saw the gap up the inside but unfortunately I locked up,” Vettel said. “I think without the lock up and braking at the same point I would have made the corner and it turns out to be a good move.

“It is easy to say it was not the right move and it didn’t work. I had to try, I tried and it didn’t work. The rest of the race I think there are only positives, I think we had a strong race, with good pace and we controlled the race.”

Vettel says his lock-up was caused by a bump on the inside of Turn 1 but fully accepted the blame for the mistake. The four-time F1 world champion, who now trails Hamilton by four points after the Mercedes driver was handed victory by Bottas’s puncture, feels his race was ultimately compromised by the safety car handed his Mercedes rival the lead rather than his mistake and isn't worried about it potential damage to his title hopes.

“I got caught out with the bump with the front locking but I don’t want to blame it on the bump as in the end I am the captain on board. It just didn’t work,” he said said. “You can’t let one and a half or two seconds of the race be a shame on all of the race.

“The most important thing is that we have a good car that we can work with in qualifying which if we can put at the front we have good pace for the race. I am not worried at all as it is quite different to last year in qualifying where most of the year we were competitive enough.

“The way the race turned out today for some people good and for some people bad. Speak to Valtteri, I am pretty sure he is not happy because it was his win. That’s how it goes because I’m not worried because the car is there and we need to make sure it stays there.”