Sebastian Vettel believes he could have finished second in the Spanish Grand Prix with the right strategy.
Having jumped ahead of Lewis Hamilton at the start of the race, Vettel was able to hold off the Mercedes in the opening two stints as Hamilton struggled to pass at the Circuit de Catalunya. However, with Mercedes switching the double world champion to a three-stop strategy, Vettel eventually finished half a minute adrift in third.
Despite the gap, when asked if second was a realistic possibility, Vettel replied: “I think it was, obviously we were hanging in there pretty well.
“I had a good start, we were able to get past Lewis and we did the right thing covering him at the first top. Then unfortunately they switched to a three-stop and they were too quick so we couldn’t keep up with the pace they had today.
“Third is the best we could do. Very happy, the car is great, great to see the fans and all the Ferrari flags so very happy.”
With Ferrari appearing to drop away from Mercedes in Spain, Vettel is sure the upcoming races will play more in to his team’s hands, adding: “I am pretty confident we will get closer again pretty soon.”
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