By Alan Baldwin SPIELBERG, Austria (Reuters) – Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has hit back at suggestions he has made too many mistakes to win this year’s Formula One championship. The German, a four-time world champion like Lewis Hamilton, was penalised at last weekend’s French Grand Prix for colliding with Mercedes rival Valtteri Bottas’ Finnish team-mate at the start. He finished fifth after fighting back. That left Vettel 14 points behind Hamilton after eight races, with both title contenders on three wins apiece and the German having started half the races from pole position. “That’s racing. There are some mistakes you shouldn’t make, some mistakes that happen. It depends on the type of mistake,” a good-humoured Vettel told reporters ahead of Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix. “I’ve done a lot of races. Unfortunately, sometimes it happens. I try to play it down but I’m not worried. I don’t think there’s anything fundamentally wrong.” “I think we know what we’re doing. I hope I know what I’m doing most of the time, so I should be fine.” The German dropped back in Azerbaijan in April, when he started on pole but finished fourth after trying to get into the lead, locking up and going off after a safety car restart. In China, a collision with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen saw him drop down the standings after the pre-race favourite had initially made a strong start from pole. Hamilton, meanwhile, has been in the points for 33 consecutive races and his days off have been less costly than the Ferrari driver’s. “It’s a long way to go, and it’s normal that some things happen along the way,” Vettel said. “Obviously you try to push yourself to the limit. When I was in Baku it didn’t cross my mind to stay back, give up and maybe wave someone else through, just to score some points.” “That’s not how I define career. I tried to break through, I did it, I was there, and I didn’t succeed. It didn’t work. Sometimes it works and it’s great; sometimes it doesn’t.” (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Andrew Roche)
