Sebastian Vettel looked on course for a podium finish at the Spanish GP but what seemed like a strategic blunder ultimately led to Vettel having to settle for 4th place.
Vettel had a brilliant opening lap, as he managed to overtake Bottas and go into second spot. However, Vettel went in with an early pit stop strategy, switching to the medium tyres, a move that did puzzle a lot of F1 critics.
The move meant that Vettel would be going in with a one pit stop strategy, but to everyone’s surprise, Vettel went in for a second pit stop when the Virtual safety car came into being just past half-distance.
Vettel commented on how the second pit stop became absolutely necessary.
“Yeah, because the advice was it was not an option to stay out.
“We were going through the tyres quicker than the others, though obviously it looks different and looks wrong.” Vettel said.
Vettel was chasing Verstappen from there on, but despite a front wing damage for Verstappen, Vettel admitted that Ferrari didn’t really have the required pace.
“Overall we were a little quicker, our tyres were fresher as well, but as the laps went on we didn’t have enough pace,” Vettel said.
“We were just not quick enough. Even at the end I was not in healthy shape with the tyres despite the fact mine were the newest.
“It’s been a decent weekend, we just need to understand what to do with the tyres. We need to have a look.” he added.
Vettel and Ferrari have suffered a massive blow in their bid for the world title. Ferrari will ave to get back to the drawing board now and sort out all the issues that cropped up during the weekend at Barcelona.
