Outgoing Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel has accused the Scuderia of compromising his strategy at the Russian Grand Prix to help team-mate Charles Leclerc.
The four-time World Champion believes he was deliberately left out to slow down other cars which were indirectly racing against Leclerc.
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After the grand prix, which saw Vettel extensively battle the two Alfa Romeos, the German said: “It was a bit of a boring race as we didn’t have many options in terms of strategy.
“My start, from the dirty side of the track, wasn’t ideal and so I couldn’t benefit from other people’s crashes and collisions. I tried everything I could but I wasn’t able to capitalise on lap one. I didn’t really have a clear track ahead of me, so that was a shame.”
Continuing, he said: “After the safety car period I was a bit stuck and I struggled to stay close to the cars in front of me.
“Then I think obviously we got stuck in the slow group at the back of the field and that was our race. I played the brake block until the pit stop. After that there was not much left.
“It was clear I was left out to slow down the Renaults. It didn’t help me, of course. I think we could have taken a point but that doesn’t change much now.”
Vettel hasn’t finished higher than tenth since the Spanish Grand Prix back in mid-August, and he has consistently been struggling to get the best out of his Ferrari SF1000.
Team principal Mattia Binotto described the weekend as a “step forward” for Ferrari and said Leclerc had a “solid drive”, while blaming Vettel’s lacklustre race on him being stuck in traffic.
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