Vettel reveals why Schumacher’s Ferrari record does not inspire him

Michael Schumacher and Ferrari were the most dominant duo in the early 2000’s with the German winning as many as five consecutive titles with the Scuderia. Ferrari signing Sebastian Vettel in 2015 was seen as the sequel to that successful period.

However, Vettel himself disagrees with the notion that he joined Ferrari to emulate his childhood hero. “Many times people confuse the fact I joined Ferrari as me trying to do something similar to Michael,” he told the official F1 website.

“If we can go anywhere near what Michael achieved that would be a great success but times have changed and what lies behind us is not really what should drive us in the future.”

Vettel of course is no stranger to consecutive title wins, as he scooped up four of them with Red Bull between 2010 and 2013, defeating the recently-retired Fernando Alonso twice in those four years.

Post those title wins, he has struggled to maintain consistency, committing crucial mistakes at various stages, which have contributed to his missing out on the world title. The pattern has been seen this season too.

At his home race in Germany, Vettel crashed out when he had the lead and in the process, gift-wrapped the championship lead to title rival, Hamilton, as he went to take victory after starting 14 on the grid.

The Ferrari driver accepted his mistake at the end of it all. “I don’t need pity. It was my fault,” said Vettel.

“When everything goes well you are cheered, and if you make mistakes you are criticised. So I don’t care much about what people say. I have to be at peace with myself.”

Ferrari have developed extremely well this season, arguably being the fastest cars on the grid. They’ll hope Vettel keeps his head, with the season re-starting next week in Belgium.