Sebastian Vettel was left dejected by Ferrari’s lack of pace during the Australian Grand Prix.
The German was just about keeping up with the Mercedes’ when he decided to attempt the undercut by stopping first.
It backfired spectacularly though, with the fresh tyres not offering a pace advantage and then high wear on the mediums left him a sitting duck for Max Verstappen to claimed third.
“I guess we were just slow,” he said in the paddock. “I didn’t have much chance to fight anyone; [it was] just a case of getting to the end.
“Not quite sure what the issue was.”
Vettel even played down the decision to pit early, adding: “I was struggling with the tyres, but even ignoring the lap I pitted, it looks like everyone else was having way less problems than I was.”
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His fourth-place finish was eventually had to be handed to him by Ferrari, as a rapidly closing Charles Leclerc was told to hold station for the final eight laps.
“I had the pace to get past Seb, but the team decided to freeze the positions via team radio. In the end, there was nothing to win. I understand,” the Monegasque said.
The youngster was also playing catch up having had a difficult first stint which included an off at Turn 1.
“I got off to a great start and found myself in a good shape to fight,” Leclerc began in summation. “I tried to overtake Max on the outside but Seb was blocked by the two Mercedes.
“I also went outside Vettel, and I don’t know if he saw me, but I had to go on the grass because I didn’t have any space left and I lost a position to Max.
“In general the car was quite difficult to drive. However, the second stint was more positive.”
Having entered the weekend as favourites, Ferrari took the chequered flag almost a minute behind race winner Valtteri Bottas.
“It wasn’t a fantastic race, but on the other hand, we know that the Melbourne track is atypical,” Leclerc said trying to reassure.
“That’s why we don’t have to panic. We know that Mercedes is very strong, but we are much closer to them than we have seen today.”
