Sebastian Vettel admits Ferrari “fumbled” into second place at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Starting fourth, the German had a quiet drive to finish third on the road but would score his best result of the season thanks to a penalty for Max Verstappen.
In addition to the setbacks for those ahead, the slow pace of Sunday’s race was also helping Vettel and Ferrari stay in touch as Lewis Hamilton had to manage his tyres.
“A good result but not a good weekend for us,” he was quoted by Crash.net.
“We lost one car yesterday in Q1 and I’m not sure what happened with Charles [Leclerc] today but it’s always difficult when you start further back.
“Not the luckiest race for us as a team but the pace wasn’t there and we kind of fumbled into second place.
“So we did everything we could but certainly we didn’t have enough pace to put the pressure on to try and go for the win.”
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Reflecting on the key moments of his race, Vettel continued: “Certainly we didn’t quite expect it but the way the race went we were able to benefit from the mistakes people made.
“Obviously Valtteri got squeezed into the pitlane and got a puncture so we were able to get that position and with the penalty that Max had, it was about staying with them.
“Antonio Giovinazzi didn’t quite know whether to let me go [as I lapped him] and I lost like two, two and a half seconds, so I was queuing the whole race with the Mercedes’ struggling.
“Then suddenly I lose three seconds, and obviously the target was to stay within the five seconds [to Verstappen] but it wasn’t a problem in the end.”
Vettel also added a tribute to Niki Lauda on a day when the Austrian legend was remembered following his death on Tuesday.
“Today is obviously about the winner, so congrats to Lewis [Hamilton], but even more so about Niki. He would be happy today,” Vettel said before the podium.
“But I think, he will always be around. We will definitely miss him. I think he’s been an icon in the past and will be in the future. So, my thoughts are with his family, and with him.”
