Vettel on Ferrari team orders: I couldn't fight

Sebastian Vettel says he was left in no position to fight anyone at the Australian Grand Prix, having appeared to have finished ahead of Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc as a result of team orders. Vettel dropped to fourth at the chequered flag after starting third.

Vettel had won in Melbourne in each of the past two years, but could not repeat the trick this time around as Ferrari's pre-season promise vanished around Albert Park.

Max Verstappen blasted past the German to take the final podium spot in mid-race and Leclerc made it into DRS range of his teammate before he was told to drop back – the act falling into line with Mattia Binotto's pre-season pledge to prioritise Vettel.

With little answer to a mid-race question of "why are we so slow?" Vettel said he was left powerless by a mystery issue on the SF90.

#AusGP race results: #Seb5 crosses the finish line in P4 while #Charles16 P5.#SF90 #essereFerrari pic.twitter.com/q4CzQrfiyS

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 17, 2019

"I guess we were just slow," he told Sky Sports.

Asked if the team had implemented orders, Vettel added: "Obviously it was clear, so I think everything goes normal then I don't have much chance to fight anybody at that point because I was quite slow.

"For me it was just making sure I got to the end."

Ferrari appeared to try an undercut Mercedes by pitting first in the front-running pack, but Lewis Hamilton easily covered Vettel, who then struggled with worn tyres late in the race.

"By the looks of it, of course we did [pit too early], because I was struggling with the tyres, so we need to have a look," he added.

"But I think even ignoring the lap we pitted [early], it looked like other people had way less problems, so not sure what was the issue."

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