Sebastian Vettel dedicated his second win of the season to Jules Bianchi after what he described as a very emotional week following the French driver’s death.
“This victory is for Jules,” said the Ferrari driver, who also won in Malaysia. “We know that it has been an incredibly tough week and it’s for all of us very difficult, so this one is for him and especially all the people in Ferrari. We knew that sooner or later he would have been part of our team, part of this family. Cette victoire, c’est pour Jules.”
His win from third on the grid which has strengthened Ferrari’s second position in the constructors’ championship over Williams to 85 points had been tough in terms of performance and coming to terms with Bianchi’s death. Vettel was a pallbearer at his funeral. “It was a tough start, a tough week, obviously with [the funeral] Tuesday,” he said. “And then to think about Jules again on the grid – certainly very emotional and difficult to get back in the rhythm. But then you find yourself back in the car, visor down and there are so many things you have to think about there’s not really much space for other things.
“Certainly for us, for the team, for myself, it was an amazing day. A great start. Obviously a bit hairy at the end where we had to push again. I think if you take the last couple of days, the ups and downs, both emotionally and in terms of performance, I think it’s difficult to beat, but obviously it’s great to come out on top.”
Lewis Hamilton, who also said it had been an emotional week for the drivers, had been untouchable in qualifying. He started on pole but endured a difficult race and was honest in his assessment of his sixth place. “Today was just a really bad day at the office,” the champion and F1 standings leader said.
“I didn’t make the right calls, made mistakes. I’ve not had an off-day for a long time, so much as I don’t want to accept that I have an off-day I have to accept because it has happened. And rather than continuing to dig myself into a deeper hole I’m looking at the positives. I’ve come away with points, I’ve had great pace all weekend, I’ve dominated all weekend until the race and I know I can bounce back.”
He also acknowledged he deals with challenging races better than he might have in the past. “Considering how bad a day it was, one thing that I can take in my heart is that I didn’t give up once,” he said. “There was never a moment I was going to throw my toys out of the pram and say it’s over.
“I didn’t give up. I never ever really give up, but in the past I might have just gone crazy and it might not have been as strong a race. I was oversteering, I was just gunning for it to the point that I nearly went off a ton of times through being way beyond the limit but that side of things I loved.”
It had been a trying race for the British driver but he had taken it with good grace, perhaps tempered by the fact his Mercedes team-mate, Nico Rosberg, also suffered and finished behind him in eighth. Hamilton extended his championship lead to 21 points.
“I just have to laugh at today, laugh at myself,” he said. “When you make wrong decisions or make a fool of yourself sometimes, you just have to laugh it off. I know I can develop and I can match what I should have done today.
“The best way is to look on the bright side and take the positives. It could have been a lot worse if I had come out five points behind or whatever it would be in the championship, maybe then I would be a bit different.”
Source: https://www.theguardian.com
