Todt on Vettel: “You see a good sailor in a rough sea”
FIA president Jean Todt expressed himself about the absence of unity that faced the Ferrari during the Vettel’s period at the team.
Sebastian Vettel joined the Ferrari team in 2015 with the hope of being able to match the success of world champion Michael Schumacher in the early 2000s.
Last week his departure from the Maranello team at the end of the 2020 Formula 1 season was announced.
Jean Todt, the current FIA president, played an important role of Ferrari team principal during Schumacher's time, monitoring his success and his five consecutive world titles.
Based on his experience, Todt said that in the happy moments or in the moments of despair concerning Michael Schumacher, the Ferrari team remained united and able to face the choices, which in his opinion did not happen during the Vettel years in the team.
He said so in an interview with Sky Sport F1: “The result, good or bad, you can always explain it,
“Together with Michael, the whole team at Ferrari, we had so much success because we had a very united, strong team, who were supportive to each other, mainly in the difficult times than in the good times.
“It’s easy to be together when all is good, but you see a good sailor in a rough sea.
“When we were in a rough sea, we were all on the boat, and I think that’s what made the difference.”
So he believes that the absence of cohesion in Ferrari was the problem for which Vettel did not achieve his goal.
Todt does not question Sebastian Vettel's ability as a driver, so much so that he declares that he would like people to have a more positive vision of his future, although apparently the chances for the German driver to remain on the track seem to be quite limited.
“Sebastian Vettel is one of the greatest talents in motorsport,” he said.
“An announcement has been done, but he will not drive for his actual team beyond 2020. There are a lot of other opportunities.
“We can only wish him the best, and I really feel that whoever will take him, will be very lucky.
“He is clearly one of the drivers that with a proper car, he can win championships. When Michael arrived in ’96, he only managed to win three races - not because he was not motivated, he simply did not have the car to allow him to be world champion.
“Slowly, we built the car and built the team which made it possible, so it’s a combination. You take Lewis Hamilton - if he would not be able to drive a winning car, he could not be world champion.
“You saw that with Alonso, you saw that with Vettel. It’s logic.” he concluded.
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