Sebastian Vettel “must be calm and believe in himself”

Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has said that Sebastian Vettel “must be calm and believe in himself” going into the 2020 season, insisting he “is still a top driver” after a disappointing 2019.

Vettel started out last season as priority driver at Ferrari after the arrival of Charles Leclerc from Sauber (now Alfa Romeo Racing), but the Monegasque quickly put pressure on the German.
 
Leclerc secured his first pole in the second race of the season and was on course to take victory before engine issues hit while Vettel made errors racing Lewis Hamilton.
 
Over the course of the rest of the season the 22-year old proved he was more than a match for the German,taking two wins as well as seven poles in total, finishing higher than him in the championship by 24 points.
 
But di Montezemolo feels Vettel can still be at the top again if he believes and has faith with his team.
 
“Vettel must be calm and believe in himself because he is still a top driver,” he told Sky Sports in Italy.

“He also must have a very open dialogue with the team. When it comes to towards the end of contracts, these are delicate years.

“Recent years has proven to be always very fast and sooner or later the number one has to come out.”

Di Montezemolo added that Scuderia team principal Mattia Binotto will have “great responsibility” in managing Vettel and Leclerc throughout 2020 with both wanting to win but ultimately that are racing for the team.

“Certainly there have been moments that have had a negative impact on the team,” he added.

“The drivers must know that they are not racing for themselves, otherwise they would have to make their own team and I said it once to Barrichello: it takes clarity, a great willingness of both to realise this.

“It will be a very interesting theme next season, because they are two race horses and both want to win and it can be easy to think more of themselves than of the team.

“This is a great responsibility that Binotto and the team will have to manage.”