Adrian Newey expected Sebastian Vettel to retire after first-lap collision in Brazil

Adrian Newey has admitted he thought Sebastian Vettel's world title hopes were over following the German's first-lap collision in the epic Brazilian GP, after revealing the extent of the damage to the RB8.

But although Newey was initially fearful, and the RB8 only lost further bodywork as the race went on, the design genius explained the sequence of events that ultimately got the car to the finishing line - including the late final late pitlane drama that contributed to Vettel's lengthy stop for intermediate tyres. "All we could do was change the engine mapping to keep the exhaust as cool as we could," Newey explained. "We obviously lost performance with all that damage which is why in the middle stint we put him on the hard tyre hoping that would last longer, but of course with all the damage the balance of the car wasn't so good. "So he went to the point where he had to come in because the tyres had gone but we knew it could rain any minute. But as usual you can only put on the tyres that are appropriate for the weather conditions - you can't rely on the weather forecast. "And of course one lap later it was raining and we needed intermediates. But by then the radio had gone, Sebastian arrived in the pit lane unexpected and wanting intermediates."