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Gearbox problem fixed - Vettel

Sebastian Vettel retired from the British Grand Prix with a gearbox issue © Sutton Images

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• Race:
• German Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Sebastian Vettel

• Teams:
• Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel is confident Red Bull has found a solution to the gearbox problem that forced him to retire from the British Grand Prix last weekend.

Vettel was leading at Silverstone when he lost fifth gear and could not regain drive. He had inherited the lead from Lewis Hamilton when the Mercedes driver suffered a tyre blow out, but he is confident he would have stood a good chance of victory in a straight fight.

"Lewis had a tyre failure very early on but I think we could have matched him in terms of race pace," he said at the Nurburgring ahead of this weekend's German Grand Prix. "After that it was quite frustrating and disappointing to lose the lead because of a technical problem, but as I said, these things happen. We've understood the problem and fixed the problem so we move on."

Pirelli has addressed the tyre blow outs last weekend by bringing new rear tyres to this weekend's race. Vettel welcomed the quick reaction and said the teams will have to live with any effect it has on performance.

"I think it's good that in a week's time we were able to get a new tyre for this race. It's safer for all of us," he said. "Obviously the last race was not what we want or satisfactory. It's good that we have a new tyre here but how much better and how different it will be is difficult to judge, but I'm confident it will be a step forward [in safety].

"It doesn't matter if it changes competition. When we talk about safety it is good we are not listening to everyone to have an opinion because some people will always agree and some people will always disagree as a principle. It's good that a decision was made from the top and people and teams have to live with it. Our only interest is that the sport is safe and I'm quite happy that something is happening now."

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