Vettel calls for ‘togetherness’ at Ferrari after Belgium F1 struggles

Sebastian Vettel has called for unity at Ferrari after a point-less Formula 1 race for the team at the Belgian Grand Prix.

Ferrari endured a torrid weekend at Spa-Francorchamps with both cars failing to score points - Vettel leading Charles Leclerc home for 13th and 14th.

He may be on his way out of Ferrari at the end of the season, but the four-time F1 champion stressed the importance of ‘staying calm’ and not getting frustrated as the Italian marquee embarks on two home Grands Prix at Monza and Mugello in the next two weeks.

“The underlying factor is that we were just not quick enough and at that stage it’s a bit difficult, you cannot pull out miracles,” Vettel said. “You can work on a couple of tenths. I think it was difficult to have a decent pace this race and this weekend, and as I said there’s lots of things we learned. We need to make sure we stay calm and we don’t get frustrated because frustration usually doesn’t lead you anywhere.

“There’s a lot of lessons this weekend but we will need to make sure we stay strong, stay together and do the best we can. We have two important races coming for the team in the next two weeks and that’s where we focus on. You also have to be realistic, you cannot expect miracles. The package is what it is - we are not as strong as we would like to be. We need to stay optimistic and see the good things, even if there’s not many.”

Team-mate Leclerc expressed his frustration following the race after two slow pit stops impacted his chances of finishing higher at Spa.

“It’s extremely frustrating,” Leclerc added. “It’s been a very difficult weekend for us and the race was not any easier. We had issues on the two pit stops that I made which made me lose a lot of lap times and position. Then I tried to catch back but it’s very difficult for us to overtake even with the DRS. We need to work and find something, as like this, it’s very difficult.”

Leclerc was under investigation for driving too slowly on his reconnaissance lap, but he was cleared by the stewards after they found he stopped to perform a practice start which meant his lap time exceeded the maximum time limit.