De la Rosa: Ferrari "didn't protect Vettel" in 2018 title race

Former Formula 1 driver Pedro de la Rosa thinks that one of the main reasons Sebastian Vettel missed out on the 2018 title is because his team Ferrari failed to protect the German, with the Spaniard claiming that the car was equal to Mercedes' car.

De la Rosa was a test driver for Ferrari among other things, with the 47-year-old racking up 107 Grands Prix in his career. He was a late bloomer and continued driving in the F1 until a very old age, as his last entry was in 2012 at 41 years of age.

Vettel, of course, officially lost out on the title last weekend, with the German failing to win the Mexican Grand Prix to keep the championship fight alive. Lewis Hamilton claimed his fifth drivers' championship, drawing him level with the Maestro himself; Juan Manuel Fangio.

De la Rosa thinks that Ferrari's shortcomings in the past few years have not been because of the performance of the car - it's been the team's tactics combined with driver's errors.

"Ferrari have had a car at Mercedes' level in every way for the first time in the hybrid era," the Spaniard told El Confidencial.

"But Vettel's mistakes coupled with the fact that Ferrari did not protect him meant that they lost the world championship."

"In the life of a driver, when you make a mistake, but particularly when you're at Ferrari, the team has to protect you.

"If it does not, it's very difficult for the driver to handle the pressure generated by his own mistake.

"I remember when he crashed in Germany, it was a very strong blow to Vettel with a very prominent error. But I didn't see a very strong defence of the driver. I didn't see it," he repeated.

"Then came Monza, when Hamilton overtook him dramatically and won the race. I think that given the pressure Vettel was suffering, I would have expected more public support from the team.

"Maybe he had it internally, but it should have been public to relieve the pressure, especially from the Italian press. At times like those, it's harder to win with Ferrari.

"When it starts to go wrong, it's very hard to have concentration and a cool head at Ferrari."

De la Rosa raises some very valid points here. Vettel was never really taken into protection in the media by his team. Lessons to be learned at Ferrari for sure!