Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has admitted that he was “lucky” to take victory in the Formula 1 season-opener in Australia after narrowly beating reigning champion Lewis Hamilton.
Vettel’s win hinged on strategy. Having been third throughout the opening stint, he made his one and only pitstop during the virtual safety car period at the half-way mark of the race.
He gained the lead in the process, as previous race-leader Lewis Hamilton and second-placed Kimi Raikkonen had previously pitted during green flag conditions.
Hamilton displayed strong pace behind Vettel during the final stint but was unable to overtake.
“Obviously, we were a little bit lucky today,” Vettel admitted. “Lewis had a really good lap yesterday, he deserved pole position and he drove a very good race, controlling the beginning.
“Then we got a bit lucky but we will take it.”
Vettel also highlighted that he was praying for a safety car while leading the race prior to his pitstop as he was losing as much as 0.7 seconds per lap to Hamilton equipped with fresh tyres behind.
“When I saw it [the virtual safety car] I was obviously full of adrenaline even though the race is frozen, to come into the pits as everything was a little bit tight to get back out.
“The team told me that it was close with Lewis. When we got out ahead I knew that it was difficult to pass but he kept some pressure on, particularly at the beginning of the last stint.
“Then in the last five laps, at least I could enjoy it a bit more.”
Despite taking victory in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix for the second consecutive season, Vettel acknowledged that Ferrari has work to do in order to maintain the challenge to Mercedes.
“We are not yet there where we want to be – I’m not exactly there with the car and if I don’t feel what I want to feel, then it’s a bit tricky. But I think it is a good start and brings fresh motivation for the coming weeks.”
