Sebastian Vettel on Ferrari strategy confusion in Spanish GP
"It wasn't the plan before the race to go close to 40 laps on the soft tyre!" he says after holding on to impressive seventh place on unlikely one-stop approach
By Max Mathews
Last Updated: 16/08/20 6:04pm
1:33
Sebastian Vettel expressed his frustration with Ferrari's lack of radio communications about tyre strategy at the Spanish Grand Prix despite an impressive drive in Barcelona.
Vettel bristled at a Ferrari engineer's question about switching to a one-stop strategy, insisting he had already asked the team about that minutes earlier.
The 33-year-old's problems at the 70th Anniversary GP last week were well documented, and after struggling in qualifying in Barcelona, the pressure was on.
However, despite the softer tyres struggling towards the end of the race, he held off the chasing pack in Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly and Lando Norris to finish seventh after starting 11th on the grid and claimed F1's Driver of the Day with 29 per cent of the vote.
He told Sky F1: "It's quite simple, we didn't have anything to lose. We started at 11 and were trying to offset until the end of the race.
"Obviously we were catching the cars in front, then they pitted for their second stop, but I was not in a rush to catch them and was managing the tyres - then I was told to push, which I did, then I was asked to make it to the end.
It's just not a happy camp, is it? Seb just doesn't feel like they're on his side any more - it's tetchy to say the least.
Sky F1's Martin Brundle
"I said 'well, you could have asked three laps before' because I asked a couple of times what the target was, how long we wanted to go, so that I could look after my tyres.
"We tried to make it. The last five laps were really, really difficult. It helped we got lapped - not always the case!"
Vettel also openly admitted the (ultimately successful) one-stop strategy had not been the plan from the beginning.
"We took the risk as we had nothing to lose, it came off, but it wasn't the plan before the race to go close to 40 laps on the soft tyre!" he explained.
"It's still up and down, some sessions feel better than others. The first stint was quite poor, the second I felt much more in control of the car; so still some work to do on my side."
