Vettel irked by “short-sighted” F1 critics 

Formula 1 championship leader Sebastian Vettel believes criticism of dull races is “short-sighted” following last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix. 

The Ferrari driver dominated proceedings to score his 50th F1 career victory in Montreal during a race that was relatively uneventful and saw just 22 changes of positions throughout. 

Criticism in Canada followed on from complaints about the previous race in Monaco, with McLaren’s Fernando Alonso describing the Monte Carlo race as one of the most boring in the history of the sport.

But Vettel, who moved one point clear of closest title rival Lewis Hamilton in the world championship standings, insists it is wrong to expect every race to be a thriller over the course of a season that has already seen three different drivers and teams sharing wins across the opening seven rounds. 

"I think life's like this. Racing's like this. It's not justified to criticise the racing or criticise the race,” Vettel said. “I don't know if it was boring. From my point of view, you're still busy inside the car. I don't know why people are so short-sighted. We've had seven races this year, I think some were phenomenal, some were boring.

“The World Cup is starting, and I promise you that a lot of the games won't be exciting, but still people will watch it. Some games will probably be incredible. That's what we always look forward to, but it can't just always continue to go up and get better. I don't know. There's no reason, so don't look for an answer.

”Don't write anything. Write about something else,” he added. “I think we do our job inside the car, and if we can race, we race. But obviously we also do our job inside the car to try and avoid racing, disappear or stay in front and not get overtaken. And some races are just exciting and others are not.”

F1's sporting boss Ross Brawn echoed Vettel’s point of view and said his comments were the perfect response to the recent criticism. 

"Like Sebastian, I'm a football fan and I too have seen games between top teams end in a dull goalless draw and there will probably be some like that in the forthcoming World Cup," Brawn explained. 

"What we must do is ensure that Formula 1 can provide spectacular and unpredictable racing and that has to come from a more level playing field. That's already happened elsewhere this year and that's not good for the sport. 

"It's true that these things happen in football too, but to stick with the comparison, in football, you do get the fairytale scenarios such as Leicester winning the 2016 English Premier League or [third-division side] Les Herbiers being finalists in the French Cup this year.

"The next era of Formula 1 must be able to deliver feats such as these. That doesn't mean lowering the standards, quite the contrary. It means ensuring that talent and ingenuity should be the major factor in deciding who wins rather than just the size of budget."