APRIL 25, 2019

Baku not a decisive race for Ferrari

Ferrari has not won so far in 2019 - although the team would have had a victory in Bahrain if there had not been an engine problem on Charles Leclerc's car - but Sebastian Vettel insists that the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is not a decisive "must win" race for the Scuderia.

Charles Leclerc, Chinese GP 2019
© RV Press

By Dan Knutson

Ferrari has not won so far in 2019 - although the team would have had a victory in Bahrain if there had not been an engine problem on Charles Leclerc's car - but Sebastian Vettel insists that the Azerbaijan Grand Prix is not a decisive "must win" race for the Scuderia.

"Some people like to put it that this is the 'turning around' or 'the decider' or so on," he said of the race through the streets of Baku. "I think we have a lot of races left, and hopefully at one point we can look back and say this was the decider and the decisive moment. Right now, I don't know and I don't really care.

"We want to win, that's for any race we go to. I think we have a very strong package. I'm confident that if we can get it in the right place then we should be able to show that and give the others a very, very hard time. I'm not thinking that it (the championship) all depends on one single moment.

"For sure, if we do another 18 races like this (the first three) then we know also it's too late to turn it around. We're aware of that, but being aware of that doesn't mean that now is the decisive moment. I think any day is important, any Friday, any Saturday, any Sunday even the days off, setting the path in terms of development for the future, so there are no off days."