Vettel behind Hamilton: 'the maximum we could get'

How to analyze second place Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) in Hungary this Sunday? An adequate performance which allows him to lose the minimum possible points on Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) when he started fourth? Or on the contrary a poor performance in these climatic conditions which greatly advantaged him during free practice?

The German opted for a pragmatic view of things. “Second, it’s not what we were aiming for this weekend, but it’s also the most we could get. » Indeed, the Scuderia pilot could not do much in a race dominated by Lewis Hamilton.

Checked flag: #Seb5 P2 and #Kimi7 P3: a good outcome for a difficult race #HungarianGP #Go Ferrari pic.twitter.com/G0FazpdOPJ

- Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) July 29, 2018

Sebastian Vettel spent most of his time stranded behind the other Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas. “It was not easy to know when to pit, then we had a little problem during the pit stop and I came out behind Valtteri. I immediately understood that I couldn't pass him because his tires were fresh, so I waited until the last ten laps. »

The four-time world champion therefore delivered the blow in the final, not without turmoil. « I was surprised that he hit me because I was in front of him. I was just trying to brake, I protected the inside line and was careful not to veer wide. I was lucky the car wasn't damaged! »

The collision ultimately did not result in any penalty. « I do not blame him, I think it lacked grip, and when you are very close (from another car), it is very difficult to slow down the car, he had to lock the wheels. »

Sebastian Vettel was then able to reach the finish line in second place, and is now 24 points behind Lewis Hamilton in the general classification.

Discover the analysis of the Hungarian GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2176 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.