Sebastian Vettel suspects he could have achieved a better result than sixth place in the Azerbaijan GP.
Sebastian Vettel suspects he could have achieved a better result than sixth place at the Azerbaijan GP.
Having qualified ninth, the Aston Martin driver got ahead at the start after overtaking Yuki Tsunoda on the first lap.
He was one of the first to stop in the first virtual safety car, leaving Lewis Hamilton behind in that pit-stop.
Trying to overtake those who had stayed on track, Vettel locked wheels and lost track when trying to pass Esteban Ocon at turn 3.
He lost time and positions, but recovered well to finish sixth - his and Aston Martin's best result of the season.
After the race, Vettel was asked if fourth place would have been possible without his getaway, considering it was Hamilton's finishing position.
"I don't know. Being fair, I think Lewis and Mercedes' race pace was faster," Vettel told .
Analyzing where he could have arrived, Vettel concluded that a battle with Pierre Gasly for fifth place would have been more likely.
"At the beginning, he (Hamilton) was stuck in a way, so we managed to overtake him in the pit-stop, which was really good for us," Vettel added.
"If I had passed Esteban at the first attempt, I think I would have been able to open a gap because Lewis' speed on the straights was worse than ours and the Alpine was the fastest, so he took too long to overtake."
"I believe fighting for fifth position with Pierre would probably be more realistic, but I think it's still a decent amount of points, so I'm really happy."