Vettel: No need to change approach

Sebastian Vettel sees no reason to change his driving style or approach in the wake of his costly error for Ferrari two weeks ago in Bahrain.

Vettel spun out during a wheel-to-wheel fight for second place with Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton, causing him to drop to fifth place at the chequered flag.

Vettel’s error also paved the way for Mercedes to take a one-two finish after Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc suffered a power unit failure late on while leading, leaving him to slow and ultimately finish third.

Despite the latest in a spate of on-track errors stretching back through 2018, Vettel said ahead of this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix that he saw no reason to make any significant changes in the near future.

“You always try to learn,” Vettel said.

“I have been to Bahrain many times, so I think I know my way around. I have won many times there as well, so I don’t think there is something fundamental to be learned or understood.

“Nevertheless, every year the challenges are different, and I think we had a little extra time to understand the car a little bit more to work and play with the setup.

“I think that proved very useful, at least that’s the feeling we have now. So let’s see how it turns out overall.

“I think the normal approach is not changing the way you drive or fundamental things overnight. I don’t think there is a reason for that.”

Ferrari arrives in China as favourite for victory given its display in Bahrain against Mercedes, having recovered from a difficult start to the season in Australia last month.

Vettel now hopes the pace of Bahrain can match the reliability shown by Ferrari in Australia to give the team its first win of the season.

“I think in terms of performance, obviously [Bahrain] was better than Australia; in terms of reliability obviously not,” Vettel said.

“I think if we can get rid of one and keep the other one and make sure we keep the right order then that would be good. That’s our target.

“It’s the third race, different track again and different conditions so let’s see what happens. I don’t know. I can’t give you an exact answer but I think we learned our lessons from Australia and should be in a better place here.

“I think the error on Charles’ car in terms of reliability is understood, and we should also be in a better place. So looking forward to a good weekend.”

Additional reporting by Michael Lamonato.