F1 | Vettel: “Happy with the podium but it's not the result I wanted”

Third place for Sebastian Vettel in Russian GP. The German of Ferrari, despite an excellent strategy on the pit wall, was unable to keep the Mercedes di Hamilton, which after the pit stop took over, recovering the position lost during the stop. Despite an always excellent SF71-H, the pace in the race today was not enough, and the world championship gap with the Briton widens to -50 points.

“The start was difficult. At the beginning I tried to pass but I didn't have space or even much engine. I tried to overtake Lewis but at the same time I saw that he was getting further and further ahead. In turn 2 I tried to stay as close to him as possible, then I lost sight of him a bit."

“Hamilton's overtaking surprised me because I didn't see it in the mirrors. I didn't want to give way to him but at a certain point I had to and he overtook me in turn 4; I made a mistake and slowed down a bit too much, the steering closed a bit and he was very close to me. I'm happy with the tires but not with the race pace, so we'll try to work to increase it."

“All in all it was a good race and we gave our all. Mercedes was the protagonist of a very strong weekend. Friday was difficult for us; on Saturday it didn't go badly but the gap against them was large. Today the car performed well in the race and we were able to push and keep up with it, but it wasn't enough. I'm happy with the podium but it's not the result I was looking for."