Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFerrari

Ferrari definitely catching Mercedes - Vettel

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Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari has definitely got “a lot closer” to Mercedes over the course of this season.

Mercedes enjoyed a dominant 2014 and started this season in the same fashion with a one-two finish in Australia. However, Vettel hit back to win for Ferrari in Malaysia and has also secured victories in Hungary and Singapore this season. While Lewis Hamilton wrapped up the drivers’ championship in the United States, Vettel says the 14-second gap to race-winner Nico Rosberg in Brazil is a clear sign of how much closer Ferrari now is to Mercedes.

“I think overall it’s true that we are closer compared to Australia,” Vettel said. “Obviously Malaysia was a bit different for us but I think in general if you look at the beginning of the season to now we are a lot closer.

“I don’t know what happened to Lewis in the end [in Brazil] I think the real gap we have to look at is the one to Nico. I think they were dropping a bit of pace, I was catching up as well but we are a lot closer than previous races. I think already in Mexico – obviously my race didn’t go too well - but I think the pace was strong so yes, I think we are closer, that’s due to hard work.

And Vettel described the progress made in some areas by Ferrari as “a miracle” having been so far off the pace in 2014.

“We’ve improved on the engine side, the motoristi in Maranello have done a miracle this year, that’s due to the car. We have raised our game but yeah, for sure we want to be closer, a lot closer, ideally ahead next year.

“That’s a massive step but that’s the challenge and that’s the target for next year. We know we set high targets but in the end we want to be favourites going in and not hoping for something to happen in front to benefit.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.