The Italian press has been known to be particularly unforgiving and Sunday’s race result was no exception. They lashed out at Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel for his “amateur error” in the race.

The Ferrari driver had a one point lead heading into Paul Ricard, but he squandered it with the collision. Vettel was man enough to accept the blame for the crash with Valtteri Bottas. Now, he leaves France with a 14-point deficit to Lewis Hamilton.

“Vettel committed an amateur error and this time the consequences are serious. Despite its excellent car, for Ferrari it is once again a wasted opportunity.

Vettel makes mistakes that he cannot afford if he wants to win another world title,” wrote La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“It was a great catch up drive, but also ten wasted points because of too much impulsiveness,” another Italian paper, La Stampa read.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen even sent a few jibes Vettel’s way, though his main target was his critics. He jokingly suggested that the media should call for the German to “change his style” after the events in France.

“I will not respond to that. I’m too old for that nonsense,” he said, responding to the criticisms.

But former Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso is of the opinion that Seb might want to rethink his position on how he plans to win the 2018 title.

“In the first lap and playing for the world championship, he ran quite a risk. It worked out ok for him but in the future it will not go so well,” he said.

Meanwhile, the German driver would have to regroup for Austria in a week’s time. Lewis Hamilton will also be keen to extend his championship lead. But whatever you do, don’t rule out the two Red Bull drivers. All in all, this is getting to be an intriguing season.