F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Massa: Vettel 'more guilty' than Ferrari for title loss

Former Ferrari stalwart Felipe Massa believes Sebastian Vettel's 2018 title hopes were squandered by the German's mistakes rather than by his team's mishaps.

Ferrari and Vettel looked like a strong entity in the first half of the season, capable of finally putting an end to Mercedes and Hamilton's hegemony.

But a string of errors by Vettel coupled with several tactical missteps by the Scuderia allowed Hamilton to leave the pair in the Mercedes's dust, and ultimately conquer a fifth world title with two races to spare.

Massa, who came ever so close to winning the world championship with the House of Maranello ten years ago in Brazil, blames Vettel rather than his former team for this year's painful loss.

"Vettel and Ferrari lost an opportunity this year, but I think Sebastian is more guilty than the team," said the Brazilian, speaking on Globo's Bem, Amigos!

"Germany was especially painful, where Vettel could have won, but lost the full 25 points.

"But there were also errors in qualifying, wrong strategies, unnecessary contact with Bottas in France. I think Vettel made more mistakes than Ferrari."

Massa also underlined Hamilton's qualities, saying they are the hallmark of a "complete champion".

"He already has the most poles in history and is close to the victories record," he added.

"He is 33 years old and seems to be an obvious favourite in the fight for the title next season. He has the opportunity to break all records."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Ferrari and Mercedes admit to plank changes based on FIA’s TD

Ferrari and Mercedes have both modified their car’s floor element in Las Vegas to comply…

59 mins ago

Las Vegas GP: Hamilton continues on top in second practice

Lewis Hamilton put Mercedes on top of the timesheets for the second time in Las…

2 hours ago

2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix Free Practice 2 - Results

Full results from Free Practice 2 for the Las Vegas Grand Prix at Las Vegas,…

2 hours ago

Leclerc confident Ferrari ‘has a shot’ at F1 Constructors’ title

Charles Leclerc believes that Ferrari has a genuine “shot” at beating rival McLaren to Formula…

3 hours ago

Komatsu: F1 teams united against Audi 2026 cost-cap offset

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu has revealed that nine Formula 1 teams stand in opposition…

4 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Hamilton leads Mercedes 1-2 in trouble-free FP1

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell led the field in a chilly but trouble-free first practice…

5 hours ago