Vettel says Ricciardo comparisons are unfair
Sebastian Vettel has opened up about his rivalry with Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo, saying comparisons between the two are unfair.
When the current Formula One season began, four-time world champion Vettel was supposed to be the superstar of the team, and Ricciardo the understudy.
Vettel earns nearly 29 times more than his Aussie ‘apprentice’, yet Ricciardo has outperformed Vettel in qualifying for seven out of 11 races, including two Grand Prix victories.
Vettel is currently sitting in sixth place in the drivers’ standings, 43 points behind third-placed Ricciardo, which he puts down to ongoing car troubles.
“First of all, I won’t argue that [Ricciardo] is doing a good job,” Vettel said.
“On my side, I have had plenty of qualifying sessions where we had some sort of trouble.
“I don’t remember all of them, in terms of what the nature was, but we lost out many times because of that and in the races as well.
“At some times it was obviously getting quite frustrating, but Formula 1 can be very nice and it can be very brutal as well by not giving you the chance to show what you can do.”
And he even went as far as to say it is unfair for Vettel to be compared to Ricciardo.
“I’m not interested in comparing too much, because on my side it’s not fair to compare.
“Daniel has had a smoother year — I’m not saying perfect year because he’s also had some issues — but way less than I had, so it’s not entirely fair to compare.
“That’s why I won’t argue with that, he did a great job so far.”
As for Ricciardo: “I’m just loving racing up the front.”
“Did I think I would be outperforming Sebastian like I have? Probably not, but to be honest, I didn’t really set any expectations.
“I knew that if I worked hard, trained well, and soaked up the knowledge of the world champion team, then I would be able to perform.”
Both drivers are preparing for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix.
