Jeered Vettel leaves Hamilton’s hopes in ruin

Sebastian Vettel soaked up the boos on another champagne day when he took a giant step towards winning his fourth consecutive Formula 1 world title.
Sebastian Vettel with the trophySebastian Vettel with the trophy
Sebastian Vettel with the trophy

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner described Vettel’s drive en route to taking the chequered flag at the Italian Grand Prix for the third time as “flawless”.

That was with a small exception of a lock up into the first chicane on the opening lap when he flat-spotted his front-right tyre, sparking brief consternation on the pitwall.

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Aside from what was a rare error, Vettel coasted to another easy win, as was the case a fortnight ago in Belgium, for his sixth victory in 12 races this season and 32nd overall of his career.

It was no surprise, therefore, when he stepped on to the podium and ahead of being interviewed by the only man to win world titles on two and four wheels, John Surtees, the Ferrari fans rounded on Vettel.

It is the third time this season –Canada and Britain were the other two events – where Vettel has been jeered, suggesting his popularity is waning, the hallmark of a repetitive winner. Taking it all in his stride, the 26-year-old German said: “You can hear the difference when you don’t win in a red (race) suit.

“You get a lot of that, but it’s very nice because it means you’ve done a very good job and beaten the red guys, so we are very proud of that. I said to the guys on the in-lap the more we get booed the better we have done.

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“People obviously don’t like the same driver and team on the podium, but we enjoy winning as a team and there were a lot of Red Bull fans as well.”

Horner believes Vettel will only be fuelled by the booing as he said: “Anybody racing a Ferrari and beating a Ferrari at Monza, in Italy, is never going to be cheered.

“So the reaction didn’t surprise us. If anything it fuels motivation, certainly of Sebastian, to go out there and continue to improve.”

As for Vettel’s rivals, Fernando Alonso provided Ferrari fans with some cheer as he finished second, but has fallen 53 points adrift in the title race.

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On the back of a disappointing display in qualifying for both Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton, their situation failed to improve. Hamilton collected a slow puncture at the first corner as a result of Raikkonen running into the back of McLaren’s Sergio Perez.

Raikkonen was forced to pit immediately for a new front wing, whilst Hamilton required fresh rubber once his problem became apparent. Both produced charges through the field, but Hamilton could only finish ninth and Raikkonen 11th to leave them 81 and 88 points behind Vettel.

Hamilton’s post-race reaction was to throw in the towel on the title as he said: “Obviously that’s that for the championship.”

Jenson Button was 10th while Paul di Resta retired early.