Ferrari had “nothing to lose” with one-stop F1 strategy - Vettel

Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari had “nothing to lose” as it gambled on a risky one-stop strategy that resulted in a seventh-place finish in Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix.

Vettel rose from 11th on the grid to claim P7 as the sole-remaining Ferrari after successfully pulling off a rare one-stop strategy. He ran as high as fifth at one stage and held off Red Bull’s Alex Albon having spent 36 laps on his Soft tyres.

The four-time world champion scored his first points in two races to pass the 3000-point mark, becoming just the second driver to do so, after Lewis Hamilton.

“It’s quite simple, we didn’t have anything to lose,” Vettel said.

“We were P11 and trying to offset until the end of the race, so we were catching the cars in front. They pitted for their second stop, but I was not in a rush to catch them and was managing my tyres.

“Then I was told to push, which I did, and then I was asked if I could make it to the end. I said: ‘well, you could have asked that three laps before because I’d asked a couple of times what’s the target and how long we want to go, so I could look after my tyres’.

“I said we’ll try to make it. The last five laps were really difficult, it helped that we got lapped to be honest.

“We took that risk because we had nothing to lose and it did pay off, but it was not the plan before the race to do close to 40 laps on the Soft tyre.”

Asked whether he felt more positive after a stronger weekend, Vettel replied: “Mixed, to be honest. Still up and down.

“Some sessions feel better than others. The first stint was quite poor, and then in the second stint I felt much more in control of the car, so still some work to do on my side.”