Ferrari F1 champion Sebastian Vettel has expressed surprise at the recent lack of control over his car, citing problems with the flow of his "exotic" car rather than making mistakes.
The German driver, who must win the Mexico Grand Prix on Sunday, has lost his slim hopes of losing fifth-seeded Lewis Hamilton to controlling the car for three of the last five races when he tried to advance Competitors.
He clashed with Hamilton on the first lap in Italy, and repeated in Japan when he tried to overtake Max Frestaben, Red Bull driver, and touched Australian Daniel Ricciardo in Texas on Sunday.
"When you approach another car you lose part of the lower pressure, and losing control of the car and turning it around itself was strange because I could not do anything," Vettel told reporters at the Hermanus Rodriguez circuit.
"It was not that I was driving too fast, or I lost control of the car at this speed, so I think there was a problem because of the attempt to overtake this position," Vettel quoted Reuters as saying.
"In the three positions, I was not ahead, but in the best case, next to another car," he said. "Maybe next time I'll try to overtake from outside."
Vettel is 70 points behind Hamilton three races before the end, and the British driver will secure his fifth title if he finished seventh in Mexico.
Hamilton outperformed after Vettel's mistakes, but the German driver confirmed that he was not trying to do anything stupid.
