F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Vettel wants Ferrari to harness Italy 'superpower'

Sebastian Vettel wants Ferrari to make more use of the "superpower" it has available to it in the form of such passionate support in Italy.

Ferrari's enjoys huge backing from the Italian public, with the Tifosi creating an iconic atmosphere during the Italian Grand Prix at Monza each year. Reflecting on the best moments of the past season, Vettel says his third place in Monza was a highlight and wants Ferrari to harness the support in any way it can in future.

"The top moment for me was certainly the podium in Monza, by far it is always something very special and I have been lucky enough to be on the podium there a few times and to be on the podium there with Ferrari in something unique," Vettel said.

"Also the fact this year was the first time to come back and compare and also see it was a difficult season for us where we got a lot of criticisms, sometimes right and sometimes wrong, but to see that the Tifosi coming to support us and believing us was a great boost and something we’ll remember many, many times that we are not alone.

"The majority of the nation of Italy behind us is something I would describe as our superpower and we want to use it more in the future."

Acknowledging some of 2016's low points, Vettel highlights a specific missed opportunity when he failed to even start the second race of the year.

"We also had a couple of moments that were not so glorious. Blowing up the tyre in Austria on the main straight when we were looking on for a podium was not great. Also Bahrain was the worst as we didn’t make the start of the race and I think we were going to be competitive that day but never found out so that was a low point when you can’t even start the race."

INTERVIEW: Stoffel Vandoorne: The long wait is over

TECHNICAL: Under the skin of the Force India VJM09

FEATURE: Nico Rosberg in numbers

Mercedes: The candidates to replace Rosberg

From the cockpit: Felipe Nasr on his second set in F1

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

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.

Recent Posts

Marko: ‘No chance at all’ for Red Bull in Las Vegas

Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are unlikely to challenge for victory…

1 hour ago

GM revives bid to join F1 with accelerated talks for 2026 entry

Automotive giant General Motors is reportedly back in the game as a potential entrant in…

3 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Thursday's action in pictures

The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…

4 hours ago

Williams' headaches persist into Vegas practice

Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…

5 hours ago

Ferrari's Sainz 'not satisfied with where we are' in Vegas

It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…

6 hours ago

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

7 hours ago