Ecclestone: Vettel is a victim, not a culprit

Ecclestone told Auto Bild, "Lewis deserved to be World Champion and Sebastian was an undeserved runner-up. Lewis was outstanding but also got total support from his team. You can't say that for Sebastian."

"My impression is that Ferrari fell into old habits after the death of Sergio Marchionne. Lacking a strong hand there was more chaos than constructive action. Suddenly there were strange mistakes in strategy, and from the outside one had the impression that Ferrari did more for Kimi Raikkonen than for Sebastian. He is a victim, not a culprit."

"Had Ferrari supported him properly as Mercedes did with Lewis, Sebastian could have been World Champion. A team must support its title contender without compromise. That's exactly what Mercedes did, but Ferrari, unfortunately, did not."

Apportioning blame to the team may be justified but, at the same time, Vettel was responsible for some glaring mistakes and lapses in his form that proved costly. The 25 points that were in the bag at Hockenheim vanished into thin air because of a mistake (under no apparent pressure) which was, in retrospect, the precursor to his ultimate defeat.

But Ecclestone argued, "You have to ask why this happened? A team has to support their top driver, not weaken him. At the time, Jean Todt was fully behind Michael... if a top driver does not feel that support from his team, the error rate increases because the damage happens in his head."

"Even Lewis was not so imperious in 2016, he had to fight with Nico Rosberg. In 1986 Williams lost the title because they had Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet fighting. At that time, Alain Prost benefited from it."

"In 2007, Fernando Alonso would have easily become world champion with McLaren, Ron Dennis could have intervened to reign in newcomer Lewis Hamilton, but he did not. They lost and Kimi Raikkonen won."

Asked if Vettel could emulate Michael Schumacher who took five years to finally claim a title for the Scuderia, which triggered the so-called Golden Years, Ecclestone replied, "I have no doubts, but he also needs support from Ferrari."