Vettel hoping for strong second half

Sebastian Vettel is desperate for Ferrari to turn their season around when Formula 1 returns at the end of August for the Belgian Grand Prix.

The German placed on the podium three times in the opening five races, but as the F1 paddock travelled to more circuits around the world, the quadruple World Champion only managed to get on the podium twice more.

The Ferrari driver suffered a host of disappointing finishes during the European leg of the Formula 1 calendar, where he and his teammate Kimi Raikkonen couldn’t quite keep up with Red Bull and Mercedes.

“The last couple of races have been harsh and tough for us, but very, very useful,” the 29-year-old said.

“I think we understood a lot about our car strength and weaknesses about our car, so we know what to focus on, so yeah it wasn’t entirely clear after the first couple of races but it became more and more evident, obviously it’s a harsh way to find out, not being competitive and not as competitive as we want to.

“I think we know what to do, obviously it’s not going to change overnight but there’s a plan and I think the second half we should be stronger in that regard.

“It also depends on what other people do but for that we focus on ourselves.

“The main point is that we find out, we are always trying to improve, but the last races in this regard have been very educational to know potentially where our weaknesses compared to Red Bull and Mercedes.”