Sebastian Vettel says it was a good thing no fans were present at Formula 1’s Italian Grand Prix, following Ferrari’s abysmal performance.
Vettel retired from the race with brake failure, which forced him to straight-line Turn 1, crashing through the polystyrene barriers.
Meanwhile Charles Leclerc crashed out heavily at the Parabolica following a Safety Car restart, an incident that forced the race to be red flagged.
It one of Ferrari’s worst performances at their home event, but Vettel was happy at least that no fans witnessed it in person as the race was held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think this year is very different and I think probably in that regard it is good that there are no fans,” he said on Sunday afternoon.
“Life is like this. It always depends where you are looking, and I think even if at the moment, there are not many good things, there are always some positives. So it is just a question of what you focus on.
“Certainly it was tough for all of us because our main focus is on the car and the race, especially racing at Monza. But we have to keep our head up and look forward to next week and to look at the positives, even if there are very few.”
Vettel was thankful his brakes failed when they did, rather than at a point on the circuit where run-off isn’t so generous.
“It is actually the worst thing, but at least it happened in probably the best spot. So if it happens elsewhere it is not so nice.
“I completely lost the pressure on the pedal and went straight. On the laps before we ran into trouble, we managed the brakes but it was quite bad.
“We need to understand why and fortunately it happened in Turn 1 where there is a lot of run-off, but I have never had a brake failure like that.”
Those in attendance – just a handful of key workers – did at least get to hear the Italian national anthem ring out after Italian-based team AlphaTauri won the race with Pierre Gasly.
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