“But satisfaction”: When Sebastian Vettel drove 2 seconds faster despite having fastest lap secured

Sebastian Vettel spent the best part of his career with Red Bull where he won four consecutive World Championships. Between 2010 and 2013, he was absolutely dominant, and very few drivers were able to challenge the German.

Vettel was also known for being extremely confident in his abilities while at the peak of his career. His ability to push harder while still having full trust in himself was on full display at the 2013 Monaco GP. Vettel was P2 in the race and with just two laps to go, it wasn’t possible for him to pass eventual race winner Nico Rosberg. However, Vettel decided to show his intent by driving faster than his race engineer wanted him to.

Vettel already had the fastest lap of the race under his belt, and no one else could have possibly clocked a better time under those circumstances. Despite that, Vettel went to the limit around the streets of Monaco and put in a lap time that was two seconds faster than his previous best.

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Red Bull race engineer asked Sebastian Vettel to abort fastest lap

2013 was Vettel’s most dominant season in F1. The German driver won 13 races that year, including 9 consecutive races in the second half of the campaign. In spite of his dominance, Vettel was hungry to perform better, even by his standards.

At Monaco in 2013, Vettel decided to go for the fastest lap on lap 77. The entire Red Bull garage got worried because he was touching the rails and barriers on his way to the chequered flag. When the Red Bull race engineer asked Vettel to take his foot off the gas pedal, Vettel straight up refused to do so.

“All right that’s enough,” the race engineer pleaded. “You won’t get any points for that.”

“But satisfaction..,” Vettel replied, as he went even faster than before.

2013 turned out to be one of the most one sided F1 seasons of all time. Sebastian Vettel won his last World Championship that year, finishing 155 points ahead of second placed Fernando Alonso. Fast forward to 2022, Vettel is set to appear for just two more F1 races after which he will call time on his glittering career.

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