After being in the mix with Valterri Bottas for the fight for the second position at the Spanish Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel finished fourth. He was comfortably into second position after the first pit stops. But from second, he ended up finishing fourth when a strange Ferrari pit call meant Vettel pitted under the Virtual Safety Car for Medium Tires while other stayed out.
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Sebastian Vettel was among the first of the front runners to pit and at that time it seemed everyone will be going for a two stop strategy. In the end, it was just Vettel. He came behind Max Verstappen who was had pitted very late and had tires that were just slightly old as compared to Vettel’s. As a result he was never able to overtake the Red Bull and finished outside the podium in fourth position.
“It wasn’t an option to stay out [under the VSC] because we were going through the tyres quicker than the others today,” said Vettel.
“Obviously it looks different and it looks wrong, but from the inside it was the right thing to do.”
“No, even with his broken wing… I think they can shave the other side as well,” he added.
“Overall we were a little bit quicker, tyres were fresh as well but I think as the laps went on we just didn’t have enough pace, it’s as simple as that.
“He was doing more or less the same. We’re just not quick enough, even at the end I was not in a healthy shape with the tyres despite the fact that mine were the freshest.
Lewis Hamilton’s lead over the championship now increases to 17 points post the Spanish Grand Prix victory. The next race is in Monaco, where Sebastain Vettel won last year. He will be hoping to repeat his feat in order to recover the points difference to Hamilton.
