Sebastian Vettel believes he had the speed to finish on the podium at the Hungarian Grand Prix after finishing fourth behind Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Vettel started fifth but soon got in between the Red Bull duo with an aggressive pit strategy.
The German’s race pace was impressive and began to challenge Ricciardo for third in the latter stages of the race.
The former Red Bull driver believes he was ‘a lot quicker’ than his former teammate but due to the difficulties in overtaking at the Hungaroring it was impossible for him to pass.
“We were a lot faster, but it’s Hungary, where you need to be not just a lot faster,” said Vettel.
“I think we probably had half a second to a second on hand at the end, as he was starting to drop off and doing small mistakes, but it was not enough to get past.
“We had a fresher set [of tyres]. It was an early stop for him, to go on his final set. We knew we would come back at the end, and as I said we were faster.
“I think the car was fine. In terms of pace we’re not matching the Mercedes, as they seem to be in a league of their own, but we were right behind [with Red Bull].
“We had the pace to go on the podium, but it’s clear that if you are ahead you can be fairly aggressive, which Red Bull was, and there was no way to get past.”
Ferrari now lead Red Bull by one point in the Constructors’ Championship.
