Lewis Hamilton: “I actually worried about Vettel”

Lewis Hamilton has said was “worried” about Sebastian Vettel, but was happy to see him prove his critics wrong with victory in Singapore. Vettel won his first race of the season in Singapore, however, everything has changed in Russia. Tension remains high between Vettel and team-mate Charles Leclerc and the duo were at loggerheads at the Russian Grand Prix last weekend. Vettel started third but took an early lead at the Sochi Autodrom, however, he defied team orders to let team-mate Charles Leclerc past. "Sebastian started the day with a positive and constructive meeting with Team Principal Mattia Binotto before joining the engineers,” the statement read. "In the afternoon, it was time to get in the simulator cockpit for a session assessing the SF90 running in different track conditions." There is a hint that something is untoward in the Ferrari camp as teams do not usually release a statement when their driver returns to base for a simulator test. Hamilton was concerned to see his long-time rival struggling with on-track mistakes. “I actually worried about him,” Hamilton told Channel 4 in Russia. “I do know him very well. We’re part of the same generation and I just know how it is to be on the back foot, having people talk negatively about you, have people write you off and also feel that way within the team that the other guy is getting all the energy. “I know the psychological turmoil that you go through as a driver and as an athlete. I know Seb has been going through that. His team-mate has been going on the up. I’ve spoken to super, super high up people who say ‘Seb is written off, that’s him done’. “But now it does appear they have put all their eggs in one basket [at Ferrari] where Seb used to be the number one driver that they would always choose. Now, it appears, for some time that it’s now all Charles and their banking the future on him. I think you will see things evolve over the next year or so that will show you that is the case.”

Ferrari release Sebastian Vettel statement as tensions with Charles Leclerc rise