|
 Vettel's Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen will take a similar
penalty, which will further reduce the team's chances of beating
Hamilton's Mercedes unless the weather, which is expected to be wet,
intervenes.
"We will have the hit of a 10 places penalty for a new engine at
this event but it has always been the plan, it’s not a big secret,"
Vettel told reporters at the Circuit of the Americas.
"Obviously if you look at just this race in isolation, for sure it's
not great news but then you have to look at the whole project, the
whole season and it was always the plan to have a fresh engine until
the end of the season (from) here," added the German.
Britain's Hamilton, who has won nine of the 15 races so far, leads
Vettel by 66 points in the standings with four races remaining.
His Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg is 73 points adrift, which means
Hamilton needs to score nine points more than Vettel and two more
than Rosberg to be sure of his second successive crown.
A Mercedes one-two, with Hamilton winning, would do that but Rosberg
said the Briton would still face a battle with him in Sunday's race.
"There is nothing to lose. I want to win and I have the opportunity
to win," said the German.
"It makes it more simple for us, the weekend," he said of Ferrari's
penalties. "But they are still a threat even from where they are
because you never know with the weather or whatever."
[to top of second column] |
Hamilton has won two of the three races in Austin to date and three
of the last four in the United States, with Vettel taking the other.
Vettel has won three grands prix this year, the same number as
Rosberg, and he and Hamilton are the only drivers to have won in
Austin since it first hosted the championship in 2012.
The German, who won his four world championships with Red Bull, has
also started twice on pole in Texas.
The new engine will be Vettel's fifth of the season, incurring a
penalty because it exceeds the allocation of four, but Ferrari have
already hit their targets for the season after failing to win a race
last year.
"The priority was always to have maximum power at every single race
and that has been our plan and I think it worked very well so far,"
said Vettel.
"Obviously we have to take the hit here but then we should see the
positive and the fact we were able to make big steps."
(Editing by Tony Jimenez/Greg Stutchbury)
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