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Sebastian Vettel says he's struggling with his Ferrari in Silverstone

SILVERSTONE, England — Sebastian Vettel said he had struggled to get the right feel for his Ferrari after qualifying a disappointing sixth at the British Grand Prix on Saturday. The four-times world champion, and last year's race winner at Silverstone, will line up a row behind Monegasque teammate Charles Leclerc, in third, and with both the Red Bulls also ahead of him. It was the third race in a row that Vettel had been out-qualified by the 21-year-old, in Leclerc's first full season with Ferrari. Leclerc was on pole in Austria, with Vettel 10th after being sidelined with a power unit problem, and third behind the Mercedes drivers in France while the German was seventh. "I think I just struggled to extract what was in the car," Vettel told reporters. "I just couldn't get the right feel. Not happy with how it went. "I should be more competitive in the race but lately (I've) been struggling a little bit to just extract that one lap, get a great feel for the car. It's been a bit up and down the whole weekend. "It didn't look great on my side," he added of the session on a cold and overcast afternoon. "I struggled to feel the car today and just couldn't get on top of it. It wasn't the best day," added Vettel. Valtteri Bottas starts on pole for Mercedes with five-times world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton, the overall leader, alongside on the front row. The champions have won eight of nine races so far, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen taking the other. "Mercedes should be the favorites but I think we have a fair battle with the Red Bulls and take it from there," commented Vettel, who has not won a race since Belgium last August. "For sure Mercedes is very strong so they will be difficult to beat." Motorsports Ferrari Mercedes-Benz Racing Vehicles Sebastian Vettel

Ferrari considering Netflix and esports involvement

Ferrari are considering engaging with Netflix on a second Formula One documentary as well as joining the rest of the 10 teams in the esports world championship, team boss Mattia Binotto said on Friday. Ferrari and champions Mercedes did not cooperate on the successful 'Drive to Survive' 10-part fly-on-the-wall series filmed by Netflix last season, arguing that they needed to focus on the title battle. When their cars or drivers did feature, it was from the official world feed television footage. "It's certainly an interesting program. We were not participating last season as Ferrari," Binotto told reporters at the Spanish Grand Prix, the fifth round of the 21 race championship. "We are considering it at the moment. We have not taken our final decision, so it's something we will do in the next few weeks." Formula One's managing director Sean Bratches said this month that he expected a second series to go ahead, with filming already underway. Ferrari are the only ones without a presence in the official F1 esports championship, which is in its third season and involves the teams only later in the year. Mercedes won both titles last year, as in the real world. Binotto said Ferrari's stance on that could change as well. "Esport is increasing in terms of interest and certainly as Ferrari we are looking seriously into it," he said. "We are not yet fully committed to the program but it's something where the discussions are ongoing and we will very soon make our own decision."

Le Mans-raced 1953 Ferrari 340/375 MM headed to auction

Vintage Ferrari models show up on the auction circuit all the time, but few can match this particular '53 340/375 MM Berlinetta Competizione in terms of historical significance. Not only did the machine compete in the 1953 24 Hours of Le Mans, but this particular model managed to finish in second place before being disqualified for taking on extra brake fluid during a stop. More importantly, a total of three Formula One world champions have driven this car in competition at events like the Spa 24 Hours, Pescara 12 Hours and the Circuit of Guadeloupe.
The coolest part for us? Umberto Maglioli managed to set a public road stage record with this machine during the Carrera Panamericana by averaging 138 miles per hour over 223 miles. The effort was good enough to land the team a sixth place finish overall, and the record still stands to this day for any road stage anywhere. The 340/375 MM Berlinetta Competizione is up for auction in restored condition at the RM Auction event in Paris this week. Check out the full press release below for more information.