- Canadian GP - Race
Vettel wanted riskier Red Bull strategy
Sebastian Vettel thinks Red Bull could have done more with his strategy in Canada as he crucially fell behind team-mate and eventual race winner Daniel Ricciardo after the second round of pit stops.
Vettel was stuck behind the one-stopping Force India drivers in his middle stint but ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, prompting the world champion to tell Red Bull he wanted to try "something" on strategy. He pitted on lap 36 as Red Bull attempted to undercut the Force Indias, but Ricciardo emerged from his own stop a lap later in between second-placed Perez and Vettel.
By the time the Mercedes drivers hit trouble Vettel was not in a position to challenge Perez for second behind his team-mate until the penultimate lap with Ricciardo coasting home to victory, which he felt was down to Red Bull's call on strategy, though he admits he did not have all the information available.
"Basically I was asking to do something with strategy, which I think was possible," Vettel said. "I think we could have taken more risk with the strategy. On the pit wall they have a much better overview but in my case they didn't really help me to create something different and to use the pace we clearly had. So in the end I pitted and also lost a position to Daniel.
"At the very end I was lucky to capitalise on Perez's brake problems, which allowed me to be much closer down the straights and finally make a move stick."
Vettel was extremely fortunate to even finish the race at all, let alone on the podium, after Felipe Massa narrowly missed colliding with him after his last-lap accident with Perez. Replays showed Massa only just missed the Red Bull and Vettel admits it was a frightening moment.
"I got past [Perez] and then into turn one I saw they were very close to each other and I saw something white coming in the mirror and at the last second I reacted and opened the car, basically turned right and Felipe was in the air flying past. [It was] kind of surreal but quite lucky that he didn't hit me in that instance and I saw him just in time."
On the podium Vettel was quick to congratulate his team-mate on his maiden victory.
"Well, he's still a nice guy!" Vettel joked in response to Jean Alesi's statement he "had a nice guy" coming to replace Mark Webber this season. "Congratulations to him, first of all, it's his day. It's a very positive day, Daniel's first win here and a first win for Renault in this new era of engines."
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