It was only for a brief moment but the two 2018 Formula 1 title contenders Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton came wheel-to-wheel in the Austrian Grand Prix with the former winning the battle.
A strategy blunder from Mercedes which eventually turned into a double retirement for the German manufacturer meant, Ferrari are now ahead in both the championships after eight races in the 2018 F1 season.
Since Vettel had the penalty, the two contenders didn’t really had the chance to face each other on track until Mercedes made that strategy error for Hamilton on Lap 13 under the VSC. It forced them to pit Hamilton on Lap 25 then after.
By that time Vettel was only two seconds behind the British driver. With Hamilton then suffering from blisters on his soft compound, in no time Vettel made the move on Lap 38 at Turn 3 to take what became third position.
Despite the tyre issues, Hamilton didn’t make it easy for Vettel as the German was forced on to the grass to his right. However, the straight ahead gave Vettel enough chance to recover and pass Hamilton in Turn 3.
To repay for the grass moment, Vettel went deep into the corner before taking the right, giving no chance whatsoever to the Mercedes driver to opt for a switch back. The moment though reminded Vettel of his battle with Fernando Alonso.
The German recalled the pass he made when driving for Red Bull Racing on Ferrari’s Alonso during the 2011 Italian Grand Prix at Monza at Curva Grande when the Spaniard squeezed Vettel on the grass on the left before the German made the move stick.
“I think I benefited a bit from the back marker, so I got really close down the main straight and then he [Hamilton] had a bit of a lock-up which gave me a good run into Turn 3 and then I knew I had to find a way on the inside,” said Vettel on Hamilton move.
“It was very-very close, [and] it reminded me bit with Fernando a [few] years ago in Monza using parts of the grass. It was very close [with Hamilton] but once I had the inside obviously, it was great to get ahead which I didn’t expect.
“I expected him with the fresher set to come out and go through the field, he struggled and then obviously it was good to put some pressure on him straightaway when there was a chance that was good for our race and bad for his race.”
Having started eighth in the race due to his penalty, Vettel was already on the backfoot to chase down for a podium position. But remarkably luck favoured him on Sunday with the retirements of the two Mercedes and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.
It meant he could finish third and retake the championship lead by the one point. “There were couple of surprises [of course],” he said on the race. “I think it was surprising to see that other people struggle so much with tyres.
“I think we were a bit better off which obviously was key for speed. Then I think we did what we could obviously, it could have been a different race with a different start and different opening lap but that is what it was.”
While both Ricciardo and Hamilton struggled with their tyres and many behind, the two Ferraris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen were able to pull through preserving their tyres until the end of the 71-lap race.
In the end, with Raikkonen doing the fastest lap on the race’s final lap, meant that they had enough left still on those tyres. But both Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen defended taking it easy with the tyres early on considering the blistering issues to others.
“It is easy now you know, [but in the race] it is a bit blind,” he said on the tyres. “When you see other people struggling so much, so it is wise to hold back and not go all out because then if you fall off the cliff – like you see with other people with Daniel and Lewis, they had to pit then you lose 22 seconds.
“You are better off [then] managing it a bit and maybe giving up one or two seconds on total race time but [importantly] finishing ahead. So, it is one of those arguments afterwards it is always easy to say but I don’t want to blame anybody.
“I think we did the right thing, there was lot of signs that the tyres won’t last but ours did and that was a strong point plus the car was good and the race was strong. So, I think it was a good day, a good recovery but ideally we don’t have to recover everytime.”