Sebastian Vettel has dismissed the notion that racing for Ferrari brings extra pressure, in the wake of another mistake, this time at the British Grand Prix.
Vettel led the 2018 standings at the corresponding stage of the campaign but crashed out of his home grand prix in Germany, and never again headed the championship.
It was the first of seven mistakes during races in the last 12 months.
“I always put myself under pressure so I can’t be happy if things go wrong but I think some of the things were bigger than others,” he said.
“I think the main thing is that we keep progressing in the right way so for sure if I get something wrong and do a mistake I can’t be happy with that.
“The pressure I put on myself after that is bigger than any external factors. This has been the same for as long as I can remember.
“I think the best and honest and straightforward way to deal with it myself as I know what I’ve done wrong and what I have done right, I know when I had the opportunity to do well, I think you are always your best judge no matter what you do. That is the rules by which I play.
“It doesn’t feel like a burden it feels like a privilege to go out and race for Ferrari.
“Obviously my mission and my goal and the team’s goal is to get back to winning ways.
“If we do that then we have a much better chance to fight for the championship.
“Having said that from when I joined to now this year hasn’t gone the way we wanted after the last two years but I think things are progressing in the right direction in the big picture but the big picture doesn’t interest you if you are not where you would like to be.
“We all know Formula 1 is a world where people are short-sighted which is also fair and part of the game but overall if things look good we are still missing that final step which is the most important step.”
Vettel hails from Heppenheim – around 30km from Hockenheim – and while he emerged triumphant on home soil in 2013, that race took place at the Nurburgring.
“I think it is always special to have the opportunity to race in your home country,” he said.
“I was very close last year so let’s see how close I am this year even though I think I am in a less strong position to start the weekend but then again we’ve seen some recent races when we’ve been very strong in qualifying and race pace.
“But this is a special place to me and it is very close to where I am from and there is a lot of family and friends close by.
“To find a good way to celebrate I wouldn’t need to go very far so that would be handy.”
