"Needless to say we got a bit lucky," says Vettel as Virtual Safety Car plays into Ferrari's hands at the season-opener
Thursday 13 December 2018 14:49, UK
Sebastian Vettel has admitted he was lucky to win the 2018-opening Australian GP.
The Ferrari driver won the first race of the new season after jumping Lewis Hamilton and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen with a 'free' stop under the Virtual Safety Car.
"We got a bit lucky but we will take it," said Vettel. "Lewis did a great lap yesterday and deserved pole and he drove a very good race, controlling in the beginning.
"I was praying for a Safety Car and then there was a car stopped in Turn Four.
"The race is frozen but to come into the pits on the limit and when I got out ahead I knew it was difficult to pass. He kept the pressure on, especially the beginning of the last stint but the last five laps I could enjoy a little bit more."
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It is Vettel's second successive win in Melbourne, and one that would have been unexpected as he ran a distant third early on. But after both Hamilton and Raikkonen pitted, a Virtual Safety Car played straight into the German's hands as he was able to gain more than 10 seconds through his stop, just emerging in front of the Mercedes.
The Silver Arrows, meanwhile, claimed the VSC gap was "wrongly calculated" by their computer systems.
"Needless to say we got a bit lucky with the timing," added Vettel, who is eager to push on after the unlikely race win.
"We're not yet where we want to be so it gives us a good start and a team result as well. Good points and for everyone back at home good motivation."
Vettel's statements were echoed by Ferrari president Sergio Marchione, who claimed there could have been "no better start" for the Scuderia as they look to end their 10-year title drought.
"It's the best possible reward for the team, which built a competitive car and used a perfect strategy to take advantage of the way the race evolved," he said.
"Of course there's still a long way to go in the series, with 20 more Grands Prix. So it would be wrong to celebrate too much. We know that we still have a lot of work ahead of us, but the first step has been taken in the right direction."
Apart from Hamilton, Raikkonen was the other unfortunate party in Vettel's jump but insisted he had "no doubts" about Ferrari's strategy, adding: "Sometimes you are lucky, sometimes you are unlucky.
"At least our team won today and we have two cars on the podium. For sure I want better results, but we had decent speed all weekend.
"If this feeling stays like this we have all the tools to keep fighting."
