Sebastian Vettel is keen to get back on the track and work on improvements at Monaco GP this weekend, despite his poor performance weekend at Barcelona GP.
Last year, Ferrari had a double in Monaco. Starting 2nd, Vettel had managed his overcut on team-mate Kimi Raikkonen to finally glean the victory.
“We are here because we want to win, not because we have to win. It’s a big difference for me. We want to win,” Vettel told journalists.
“I think it will be incredibly tight. Red Bull should be stronger here, especially on Saturday, so we’ll see. It’s good to arrive here knowing that you will be in the fight. We will try to make a difference.” he added.
The German still recognizes that the pressure is on him, while Lewis Hamilton has already built a small mattress ahead of the championship.
The Ferrari driver thinks the Scuderia has learned from its shortcomings in Barcelona, even if these lessons should not be used in Monaco.
“If you look at the last races and you see that you clearly had the opportunity to win, and you missed that opportunity, then you are in a situation where you have to win.” Vettel said.
“It was only in Barcelona that our race was bad, and he just said that it was not a solid race for us. Saturday was pretty good, but on Sunday we took a step back.
“So it’s good to have had the opportunity, in private practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, to get into a situation similar to the race to understand a little better our times and our laps.
“We think we have found some ideas or things that explain our poor performance in the race. But for Monaco, it’s not very relevant because it’s a totally different track. But time will tell if we have found a good direction.” Vettel added.
Vettel is currently sitting in second place in Formula 1 standings with 78 points, 17 points behind the leader Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. The 30-year-old F1 driver believes that the Monaco circuit in Monaco will suit him and his Ferrari.
“It’s normal that sometimes things do not go in your direction. But Monaco is a totally different track so it does not matter for this weekend.” Vettel said.
“There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work to try to understand the reasons and the solutions to make sure it does not happen again in the future. But for this weekend, it will not make a difference.” he added.
