Vettel believed a podium finish was possible at Abu Dhabi

Sebastian Vettel has explained how he believed a podium finish was a possibility prior to the start of the action-packed Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, despite starting from the pit-lane after being controversially excluded from qualifying. The reigning Champion drove the race of his life, scything through the field to eventually finish an amazing 3rd.

After starting the race from the pit lane, Vettel immediately began to overtake the HRTs, Marussias and Caterhams, rising steadily through the order to 11th before the first safety car period. It was during this stage of the race when Sebastian Vettel pitted for a new nose cone, therefore falling back through the order to last position.

However, with the German now on fresh soft tyres, he was able to once again rise through the order to 2nd by lap 31. After a second pit stop, the German battled long and hard with the McLaren and Jenson Button, eventually passing the Briton and finishing a tremendously competitive 3rd behind race winner Kimi Raikkonen and Championship rival Fernando Alonso.

Despite Red Bull team principal Christian Horner’s skepticism on a competitive result for Sebastian Vettel prior to the race, the German driver revealed how he always believed a podium finish was possible when interviewed by David Coulthard on the podium after the race.

“Yes, I did, to be honest with you.” Admitted Sebastian Vettel, when asked whether he thought it would be honestly possible for him to finish on the podium. “After the first couple of laps obviously that target was drifting a little bit away. I had a messy start to the race, which is quite difficult at the back, to get through the cars as quickly as I could, damaged my front wing.

“And then to the safety car, yeah I had a little bit of a big mistake with Daniel [Ricciardo] I think, who was stopping his car on the straights and I was very surprised. Turned to the right and... if it would have been 50m earlier, 50m later I wouldn’t have done damage to my front wing further but after that, I said to myself ‘yeah, either we go full attack or nothing’. So that’s what we did and I had a fantastic race. I enjoyed it a lot.”

If Sebastian Vettel hadn’t picked up damage to his front wing during the opening stages of the race, it’s possible that the German could’ve challenged for the victory. However, 3rd place is a sensational achievement after starting the race from the pit-lane. Although Sebastian Vettel’s lead in the Championship has been reduced by only three points, the Drivers’ Championship is there for the taking in two weeks time when the F1 paddock reconvenes for the inaugural race around the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

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