Vettel: "The technical problem cost us the victory"

Sebastian Vettel is convinced that he would have easily won the Bahrain Grand Prix without the technical problem with his Red Bull's engine 20 laps from the end. The German seemed to have the race in hand until a drop in performance, due to a technical problem, led him to lose three positions, finishing in fourth place ahead of the two Ferraris and Lewis Hamilton.

"It's a shame but what can we do? In general it all went well apart from the breakdown. In all conditions from Saturday morning onwards we were the fastest. I think we had control of the race, a good strategy and I knew what condition my tires were in. We managed the tires and brakes well, everything was going well. I think I lost power with 15-20 laps to go. I don't know what happened but I think it's a mechanical failure. Luckily I was able to continue but I could have won. It's not easy, I was in the lead, everything was going well and suddenly I only had to think about getting the car to the finish line. At least I scored 12 important points."

The team then announced that the problem concerned a failure of the engine and not of the exhaust as had been assumed.

"There was a bit of traffic today. I fought with the two Mercedes at the first corner and Michael was on the inside; after that I just tried to overtake them" added Mark Webber, eighth today. "It was very, very hard to stay close to the cars in front of me. We suffered in yesterday's qualifying; we managed to get some points today although not as many as we would have liked. Without a doubt we learned a lot as a team today. It wasn't the most exciting Grand Prix I've ever raced but the world class riders who were in front don't usually make mistakes. I tried to get Jenson and Michael to make mistakes but it didn't happen. It's going to be a long championship and the guys are working really hard. Last year we showed that we can fight so now I'm looking forward to Melbourne with confidence."