F1 News
Sebastian Vettel says racing in the midfield "cannot be the same"
Sebastian Vettel believes that racing in the midfield of the Formula 1 grid would be very different to competing for a podium every race. There have been rumors that the four-time world champion could make a move to McLaren in the future but after these comments that seems unlikely.
“When I was in the middle of the grid, I was at the beginning of my career in Formula 1, with Toro Rosso and shortly thereafter at Red Bull, even though we quickly got to the front," Vettel told Motorsport.com.
“In Toro Rosso the first year we fought for the 15th and 17th position, I had Vitantonio Liuzzi as a teammate and we were not competitive enough.
“The following year (2008) was incredible: we were able to fight for the 12th place, then for the 10th, then at the end of the season we were constantly in the top 10.”
It seems that Vettel still ahs the hunger to want to win and does not see himself fighting for points in the midfield.
"It depends on the situation: when you start fighting for the top 10, finding yourself in the top five is exciting, but when you pass the last 10 years in the top five and then you find yourself 15th, the feeling cannot be the same," he claimed.
“It goes without saying that if you find yourself 15th after having spent a life in 18th place, you seem to have reached the most beautiful thing in the world. I don’t think you can pretend nothing about your past, if you won a lot I think you want to win again.
“Look at Kimi, for example, he certainly can’t fight for victory now, but I think he would like to do it if he could choose to do it.
"In the end, if you are driven by passion, you find satisfaction and you can also have fun driving and racing alone.”
It will be interesting to see what happens with Vettel and whether he joins another team before ending his career.