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F1's Sebastian Vettel says mistakes happen but he's not making too many

SPIELBERG, Austria — Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel has hit back at suggestions he has been making too many mistakes to win this year's Formula One championship. The German, a four-time world champion like Lewis Hamilton, was penalized at last weekend's French Grand Prix for colliding with his Mercedes rival's Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas at the start. Vettel ended up fifth after coming back through the field. That left Vettel 14 points behind Hamilton after eight races, with both title contenders on three wins each and the German having started half the races from pole position. "It's racing. There are some errors you shouldn't do, some errors that happen. It depends on the type of error," Vettel, in good spirits, told reporters ahead of Sunday's Austrian Grand Prix. "I've had a lot of races. It happens, unfortunately, at times. I try to minimize it, but I'm not worried. I don't think there is something fundamentally wrong," he added. "I think we know what we are doing — I hope I know what I'm doing most of the time, so I should be fine." The German lost places in Azerbaijan in April, when he started on pole but finished fourth, after he made a bid for the lead, locked up and ran wide following a safety car re-start. In China, a collision with Red Bull's Max Verstappen dropped him down the order, after the pre-race favorite had initially made a good start from pole. Hamilton has meanwhile gone 33 successive races in the points, and his off days have been less costly than the Ferrari driver's. "It's a long way to go, and it's normal some things happen along the way," said Vettel. "Obviously you are trying to push the limits. It didn't cross my mind when I was in Baku to just stay behind, surrender, and maybe wave another person past, just to collect some points," he added. "That's not how I define racing. I tried to go for the gap, I went for it, it was there, and I didn't make it. It didn't work. Sometimes it works out, and it's great. Sometimes it doesn't." Reporting by Alan Baldwin

New Ferrari 812 prototype spotted crawling around Maranello

In late 2018 the FerrariChat forum lit up with word that Ferrari planned three special editions of the 812Superfast. We saw one of them last November, in the targa-topped 812 GTS. The second was rumored to go even further with the undress, boasting a speedster-like form omitting the roof entirely as well as most of the windshield. If that arrives, it would slot into an expanding segment of supercar speedsters like the McLaren Elva and mysterious roofless Aston Martin. The third model was spoken of as a hardcore variant called 812 Monza or 812 MM, for Mille Miglia. Instagram user Wilco Blok posted photos taken by Lorenzo Roman that show a blacked-out 812 in prototype form prowling the streets of Modena. This is thought to be our first glimpse of what could be that hardcore variant, which The Supercar Blog now says "is being referred to as the 812 GTO."   This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The changes look mild for the moment, but could stand out when in full dress akin to the massaging given the F12 TDF compared to the standard F12. The prototype 812's front intake has opened up, set into a bumper that's had its creases smoothed over and could be slightly wider. The side sills have been taped over, and the air extractors in the rear fenders behind the rear wheels have been covered. In back, new bodywork protrudes around the exhaust outlets on both sides with what appears to be additional venting. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Autoevolution suspects this Ferrari will be the last to make use of the F140 V12 that the Enzo introduced to the world in 2002. Having started with a 6.0-liter displacement and an output of 641 horsepower and 485 pound-feet of torque in the Enzo, the figures have risen to 6.5-liters with 789 hp and 530 lb-ft in the 812Superfast. The outlet thinks Ferrari will up the 8,500 rpm redline in the hardcore 812 beyond the 9,000 rpm found in the 789-hp LaFerrari, in order to coax a naturally aspirated 850 hp from the 12-cylinder. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Ferrari likes to make splashes at the Geneva Motor Show, so there's a chance that's where we'll find out what the 812 has in store next.

Race recap: 2015 British Grand Prix is a testament to timing

In front of his home crowd, Lewis Hamilton actually had to work for pole position at the British Formula One Grand Prix. The World Champion couldn't get on top of the setup for his Mercedes-AMG Petronas on Friday, lapping behind teammate Nico Rosberg and the two Ferraris. Come Saturday, after a few alterations and a whole lot of wing to clamp down on understeer, Hamilton returned to his regular program at the front, taking pole position by just over a tenth of a second from his teammate. Williams, thought to be headed for another stretch in the weeds a few races ago, showed its best strength all year. The Grove team got both cars on the second row and in front of the Ferraris, Felipe Massa qualifying ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas, but they were eight and nine tenths behind the Mercedes'. Kimi Raikkonen out-qualified Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel for the second time this year, and only the first time in a straight-up battle with two healthy cars. But more than a second behind the two cars at the front, and with two nearly-impossible-to-pass Williams' in front, neither the Finn nor the German is happy with where they are. Daniil Kvyat claimed seventh, his side of the garage at Infiniti Red Bull Racing having got through the weekend to that point without a single complaint about their Renault power unit. Carlos Sainz, Jr. put a single Toro Rosso inside the top ten in eighth position, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg who did the same for Sahara Force India by slotting in ninth. The second Infiniti Red Bull driven by Daniel Ricciardo did have an unspecified engine complaint – his car kept "bleeding power" on the straights – but even so he managed to qualify tenth with his second-fastest lap. The stewards deleted his best lap because he ran three centimeters outside the track limits at Copse, an infraction that stung a few other drivers as well. Up in front, what would sting the Mercedes-AMG Petronas drivers the most was the start. That's when a dearth of grip struck both Hamilton and Rosberg, allowing Massa and Bottas to slide right up the middle between them and take the first two places. The leapfrogging was so surprising that it looked like the Mercedes drivers were giving the Williams drivers a head start. They diced through the first corners, Hamilton sliding past Bottas into second place halfway through the lap. And then the safety car reported for duty.