There is No Direct Contact: Sebastian Vettel

Published 10/16/2018, 11:15 AM EDT

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via Imago

Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton were battling it out for the Formula One World Championship this year until the Brit opened up a 67-point gap over his rival.

Hamilton can win his fifth Championship at the US Grand Prix this weekend.

But Vettel insists he has not cracked because of the mind games which are ongoing between the pair.

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The German claims he rarely gets to speak to Hamilton so he has not had the chance to properly get inside his head.

“If we see each other, it’s briefly at a press conference or the briefing or with a little luck on the podium. There is no direct contact,” he said.

“Things like ‘you have no balls’ or ‘you were crap today’ are no longer possible because every word is put on a golden scale.”

via Imago

Vettel has come under immense scrutiny from Ferrari fans as his title challenge has fallen away catastrophically for the second year in a row.

And the four-time world champion misses the days when he could get the psychological advantage over his opponents.

Sebastian Vettel famously called Narain Karthikeyan a “cucumber” in 2012 but he says the times have now changed.

“Pressure is not necessarily fun,” he added. “But it doesn’t always exist where people often suspect from the outside.

“Honestly, you drive for yourself and for those who help you to compete at this level. One guiding principle helps me. It’s that no one is ever as good or as bad as it is said.

“And I always like to reflect on what brought me to racing: my enthusiasm and joy.”

Meanwhile, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has hailed Hamilton for his brilliant season.

“While we didn’t have the fastest car in the summer, we’ve seen the performance swing in our favour recently; however, it is closer than it looked in recent races,” Wolff said.

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“Ferrari have a strong car and they will keep on pushing until the very last corner in Abu Dhabi.

“They have been worthy opponents in the past 17 races and we have no reason to believe that this will change in the next four; just like us, they will fight fiercely for every point and position.

“Two one-twos in a row also show how well both drivers are performing. With six race victories in the last seven races, Lewis has shown what a class act he is.

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“Both on and off the track he is more complete than ever before, showing commanding performance in the car and challenging the entire team to perform to higher levels at the same time.”

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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