Ecclestone: Praise for Vettel, criticism of Schumacher

During Vettel's first training session in the racing series in 2006, when he set the fastest time in Turkey, the German convinced him of his talent, Ecclestone assured. “He has the competitive gene that the drivers used to have,” said the Brit and said: “People underestimate Sebastian.”

Ecclestone believes the growing doubts about Vettel after the unsuccessful start to his fifth Ferrari season are unjustified. “He will also fight his way out of his current slump,” he said.

Before the third round of the season on Sunday in Shanghai, Vettel is 22 points behind the Finnish World Championship leader Valtteri Bottas and 21 points behind defending champion Lewis Hamilton (both Mercedes). “There is no reason why, alongside Lewis, Sebastian Michael Schumacher cannot achieve seven titles,” assured Ecclestone.

“Schumacher knew no limits” Speaking of Schumacher: Ecclestone also spoke about the former exceptional “Scuderia” driver in an interview with the German medium. “His problem was: he didn’t know any limits,” said the Brit. The 88-year-old cited Schumacher's ramming kick against Jacques Villeneuve in the 1997 title final in Jerez as one of the examples of this. “The scandals brought a lot of publicity, but not necessarily the one we wanted,” said Ecclestone before the 1000th Formula 1 race in China on Sunday.

Schumacher is the record world champion in the racing series with seven titles, but sometimes went over the limit with his great ambition. Because of the incident in Jerez in 1997, he was subsequently stripped of all his World Cup points. Ultimately, it took until 2000 before he was able to start his series of five World Cup triumphs in a row with Ferrari.

Ecclestone also has mixed feelings about Schumacher's comeback at Mercedes from 2010 to 2012. “It was good for Formula 1, less good for him. But that’s what I meant by the limits that he didn’t know about himself,” said the long-time head of the premier class. Schumacher no longer celebrated a race victory in the Silver Arrow, but he gained a lot of sympathy.

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Ecclestone: Praise for Vettel, criticism of Schumacher

Sebastian Vettel is underestimated from the perspective of former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone. “Formula 1 needs a Sebastian who wins,” said the 88-year-old in an interview with “Sport Bild” and “Auto Bild Motorsport”.

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