Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel is slightly disappointed at only finishing third at the Australian Grand Prix.
The German led most of the early laps after a great start from third on the grid but finished behind both Mercedes.
“I obviously had a great start, I was very happy to see that I had a better start than the two cars in front of me, reminding me of Hungary last year and it worked out,” Vettel said. “It was great to see that Kimi [Raikkonen] made it as well, so we got first and second and from there we dictated the pace.”
Everything was going right for him until a red flag emerged on lap 18 for a collision between former Ferrari drivers Esteban Gutierrez and Fernando Alonso.
“The red flag didn’t help us, but to be fair the most important thing was that Fernando and Esteban were alright,” he said. “It was the right decision to stop the race. First time I went through I saw the debris on the track.”
Despite his finishing position, Vettel was pleased with the race pace of the Ferrari.
“Naturally the expectations are higher when you had a strong season last year and you wanted to close the gap. Yesterday we were a bit further away and today we were closer.
“In general, it was a great pace, I was racing flat out until the end, I didn’t want to go onto the grass [at turn 15] but I did the lawn mower! So I don’t have to do it next week when I go home, but for sure I would have liked more from today.”
