Vettel explains why he chose slicks in Turkish GP

Sebastian Vettel tried his second stint in the Turkish Grand Prix on mediums, but it turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. The Aston Martin-driver had no grip at all and was tens of seconds slower per lap than all the drivers on the intermediates. Afterwards the four times world champion looks back on the incident.

Was it his own decision or the team's to take the gamble? "Together, but in the end I made the decision, I wanted to try it. There was nothing left of the intermediates, I thought the slicks could perform just as well, but I couldn't run them in and just had no grip. I lost so much time...", Vettel said to The Race.

Lack of grip

The four-time world champion had expected more from his adventure on the yellow compound. "It was worse than I expected. Even if it was a little bit still here and there, or wet - like I said, the main thing is that I couldn't run the tyre in and then you're just sliding."

In retrospect, Vettel calls it a "no-brainer" that the decision to go for mediums turned out wrong. "But at the time, I don't know, I was already tempted for a few laps, the inters didn't get any better. If you looked at the tires, there wasn't much left of them. They looked like a slick. I think I had reason, but it was obviously the wrong decision". 

"On the inters there was nothing left, I thought the drys could be as good, but I couldn’t run them in and just had no grip, lost so much time, couldn’t make them work. It was worse than I expected", he concluded.