Vettel has ‘wholehearted support’ from Ferrari

Ferrari will give Sebastian Vettel the team’s full support in 2019 despite an error-strewn season last year, insists company CEO Louis C. Camilleri.

Vettel started the campaign with victory in the Australian Grand Prix and led the championship for much of the first part of the season but made mistakes as Mercedes improved, significantly crashing out of the lead of the German Grand Prix in the rain. A number of spins when racing wheel-to-wheel later in the year also hurt his championship hopes, but Camilleri says there is no lack of backing for the four-time world champion.

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“We of course also have the privilege of having two extraordinary drivers,” Camilleri said. “Despite his four world titles Sebastian Vettel remains as hungry as ever for victory and I know that he is totally devoted to achieve his and our ambitions and he knows full well that the entire team will give him all their wholehearted support.”

Kimi Raikkonen finished third in the drivers’ championship -- 69 points adrift of Vettel -- and was replaced by Charles Leclerc, who Camilleri says has proven himself to be capable of delivering amid the pressures at Ferrari.

“Alongside Sebastian will be Charles Leclerc, we’re all tremendously excited to have him on board. His sheer talent, maturity, race skill and speed, was evident to all last year, and we are sure that great things await him in the future.

“I wish to stress that while Mattia (Binotto, team principal), Sebastian and Charles will obviously carry the limelight, behind them is an incredibly well-oiled machine; men and women who form a very strong chain, all sharing a passion that renders Ferrari so unique.

“They all have our full support and will ensure that despite all the obvious pressures that exist, the atmosphere within the team -- from top to bottom -- will be one in which serenity will prevail. For it is a pre-condition to a tightly-knit team where creativity, talent and transparency will flourish.

“It remains for me to wholeheartedly thank our fabulous Tifosi. They support us through thick and thin and their loyalty inspires us to do every and always better. We want to render them proud, for they deserve nothing less.”