Vettel: Hamilton was never a threat

Brazil Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel has claimed that Lewis Hamilton never posed a threat to him claiming first place at Interlagos.

Due to a crash in qualification on Saturday, the Englishman started the race on Sunday in the pit only to quickly penetrate through most of the competition to eventually claim fourth place. Vettel believes that a long first portion of the race without a pit for the Mercedes driver was always going to catch up.

“Obviously I saw him [Hamilton] pitting just in front of me [after running a long first stint] so he had to make up that pit stop but it’s not the first time this year we have seen a mirrored strategy.

“It’s not very attractive if you’re starting at the front but it can be very attractive when you’re out of position which he was. So you obviously have an advantage."

The German took some time to praise Hamilton, but even though it was a heroic effort from the recently-crowned world champion to reach position four from position 20, Vettel wasn't too worried about being overtook.

“The track ramped in the end and the supersoft was clearly the faster tyre, but overall it’s fair to say Lewis was very quick. But I don’t think he was really a threat.”

The Ferrari driver went on to win the Grand Prix at the expense of Hamilton's team-mate at Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas, who failed to recover beyond Vettel after a mistake at the first corner.