Sebastian Vettel had no issue playing a support role and assisting teammate Charles Leclerc to victory at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The German recovered from losing second into La Source by repeating his same move on Lewis Hamilton on the Kemmel Straight as he did to take victory 12 months ago on the opening lap.
But that would be the highlight as an early pit-stop backfired and Vettel was asked to let Leclerc by having initially undercut him and hold up Lewis Hamilton for several laps before pitting again and dropping to fourth.
“Well for the team yes [I’m happy], but for myself, I’m obviously not happy,” he told reporters post-race.
“I didn’t have the pace ultimately. I was struggling to stay on top of the tyres which normally is not a problem at all. So it was a tough race.
“Obviously from some point onwards, from the first lap onwards, it was clear we won’t be in the fight. So all I could do by then was serve the team."
On his battle with Hamilton, Vettel admits his resistance could only last so long as the Mercedes was finally able to overcome the Ferrari's advantage on the straights.
“I was struggling in the corners so that allowed him to get close and then I couldn’t hold him off for a very long time," he said.
“I tried to obviously make him lose time in order to give Charles a cushion. In the end, it was just enough, so did the job.”
Also Read:
Leclerc was also keen to highlight his teammate's role in his first F1 win.
“Seb has been very nice and without him, I think it would have been a lot more difficult to win this race so thanks to him.”
