It was a very mixed day for Scuderia Ferrari once again in 2019.  

Sebastian Vettel drove a magnificent race from the back on the grid to finish a brilliant 2nd in front of his home fans. A late-race charge following the switch to dries saw the German storm through to collect a valuable 18 points. 

On the other side of the garage, there was more heartbreak for Charles Leclerc. Following a great start and some superb strategy work by Ferrari on tyre choices, he found himself in P2. However, it all went wrong on lap 27 as he crashed out of the race and was left to rue another lost opportunity.  

Sebastian Vettel (P2) 

‘’I was not so happy in the beginning, (but) I was very happy with the first lap. At some point you know with all the Safety Cars and people flying off, then I’m thinking you know ‘maybe I need a bit of a DC [David Coulthard] approach here,’’ said the German to Sky Sports F1  

‘’He was the one that was fast in these conditions and not so spectacular – but all of a sudden, he was there. It was a lot about surviving.’’ 

‘’When it started to dry up, I really started to feel confident. I always managed to get good speed [through turn 1], get in the DRS, close the gap for the second corner and get in range so that I can pass on the back straight.’’ 

‘’I could really feel the people when I was passing – they were jumping up and I was really enjoying it. If you’re making progress you enjoy it.’’  

From P2️⃣0️⃣ to P2️⃣ what a comeback 😍. You rock #Seb5 👊🏼🚀 #essereFerrari🔴#SF90 #GermanGP 🇩🇪 pic.twitter.com/ioQz83lwQI

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 28, 2019

Charles Leclerc (DNF) 

‘’A big mistake on my side. I’m very sorry for the team and for the fans. I think it was a great race until the mistake, but one mistake is enough to be out of the race and that was completely my fault,’’ he told Sky Sports F1. 

Leclerc wasn’t happy with the tarmac run-off where he crashed, however. ‘’I’m not very convinced about the tarmac that is there in the exit of the last two corners. This is in no way an excuse for my mistake and I take the full responsibility of it but we are in Formula 1 and this type for tarmac is unacceptable for me.’’ 

‘'I’m happy about this weekend overall when you look at the performance [of the car] but there are many things that didn’t go our way.’’ 

My mistake. A very good race until then. But 1 mistake is enough. I'm sorry for the team and the fans, I'll come back stronger.
📸: @KymIllman pic.twitter.com/KZmfoDbNoT

— Charles Leclerc (@Charles_Leclerc) July 28, 2019