Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel finished third in Austria while teammate Kimi Raikkonen finished second. In this picture, Vettel of Germany and Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen of Finland and Ferrari on the drivers parade before the Azerbaijan Formula One Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan, April 29, 2018. Clive Mason/Getty Images

Sebastian Vettel has backed Ferrari’s decision not to swap places between him and teammate Kimi Raikkonen during the final stages of the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Finnish racer finished second behind race winner Max Verstappen with Vettel coming home in third place. It was a chaotic race that included a double retirement for Mercedes and Daniel Ricciardo again suffering reliability problems. Lewis Hamilton looked comfortable in the lead with teammate Valtteri Bottas in second place, but retirement on Lap 15 with hydraulic failure for the latter saw the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) deployed.

Red Bull Racing and Ferrari decided to pit their cars, while Mercedes missed the opportunity and kept Hamilton out. This resulted in the Briton emerging in fourth place after his stop and it soon became fifth as Vettel passed his title rival.

The Briton went to suffer a fuel pressure problem later in the race that ensured the favorites did not score any points at the Red Bull Ring. Their misfortune teamed with some gutsy driving from Verstappen saw the Dutchman take his fourth career win in Red Bull’s home race.

Raikkonen, who had a good start, came home second, but was just two seconds ahead of his teammate, who took the final podium place after starting sixth. It was being suggested that Ferrari could swap their cars around to boost Vettel’s title hopes but they allowed the Finn to finish in second, a decision that was backed by the German.

"No, why?" Vettel responded when the possibility about swapping places was put to him after the Austrian race, as quoted on Sky Sports. "Max won the race because he deserved it and he didn't make any mistakes - so that's a strong performance from him. And Kimi did everything he could.”

"I was trying to hunt both of them down. Kimi was pushing as hard as he could and l was pushing as hard as l could. Both of us were closing but it wasn't enough,” he said.

Hamilton’s retirement saw Vettel retake the lead in the F1 Drivers’ championship. He now leads the British driver by one point going into the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in six days’ time.

Ferrari also took the lead in the Constructors’ race, but Vettel admits that the Italian team could have got more out of the weekend had it not been for his three-place grid penalty that he was handed for impeding Carlos Sainz during qualifying.

"I got most of it right but today could have also been a bit better without the plus three from the start,” the four-time F1 world champion added. "I am happy with the podium but equally there was a bit more for us."

The next race weekend will begin with the first free practice session on Friday, July 6 with qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday evening. The Mercedes cars will again start the weekend as favorites, and they will be keen to put behind the memories of Austria at the earliest.

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