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Sebastian Vettel says that he and Ferrari did everything in their power to pass Lewis Hamilton at the Spanish Grand Prix, even though the German ultimately had to settle for second place behind the Mercedes. Vettel was able to overtake Hamilton at the start of the race, and held onto the lead through the first round of pit stops - at this point, he stayed on a set of soft tyres, while Hamilton changed to mediums.
The two drivers swapped tyres at their next stops, and emerged very close together. Vettel came down the pit lane only marginally ahead of Hamilton, but after some contact was able to stay ahead. The Ferrari would not lead for much longer, however, as the Briton remained on Vettel's gearbox until he was able to take first place a few laps later.
He stayed there until the chequered flag. After coming home second, Vettel said of his race: "I had a very good start, I think Lewis and myself both picked up wheelspin straight away.
"Then I picked up the clutch again and then I could gain on him. I was really happy with that, the run to Turn 1 was quite long but I managed to stay ahead. I settled into a nice rhythm, it was fine, obviously Lewis stayed out longer and did the opposite, mirrored the strategy, knew at the end it would be crucial. Then he came out (of the pit lane and) I was a bit surprised when he came out, it was so close.
"Then I was doing all I could to stay in front, I was a bit lucky as there was a car in front giving me a tow, then I was alone and he (Hamilton) flew past. It was a shame, we tried to stay in the race, well done to him, we did everything we could."
Vettel and his team made reference to "Plan C" later in the Grand Prix, as they believed Hamilton's soft tyres would imminently pass peak performance, but soon realised no advantage could be gained through an extra stop: "We had a huge gap to Daniel behind so we could have done anything really," Vettel added. "We weren't sure, there was a big conversation, trying to do something, we were hoping Lewis would maybe struggle with the tyres at the end.
"Normally at the end of the race the track picks up the rubber and the tyres last very long so he didn't have any problems, we tried to keep pushing and stay close but we were never close enough."
Mason Hawker
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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Mercedes was simply quicker today.. Monaco will really show who has the best aerodynamic package