Sebastian Vettel says he had no choice other than to make a second pit stop during the Spanish Grand Prix.
His two-stop strategy dropped him behind Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen, who only pitted once. According to Vettel is was the only option open to the team at the time.
“We couldn’t make the tyres last so for us it was clear we come in again,” he said. “I think it was the right thing to do.
“Obviously if you look from the outside it’s easy. But inside the car we were going through the tyres too quick and therefore we were not able to stay out for another 23 laps.
“Even in the end with the fresher set I wasn’t able to attack until the end.”
However Vettel’s team mate Kimi Raikkonen said he was planning to only make one pit stop during the race before he retired.
Vettel said the team’s problems with its tyres was one of three reasons why it was not as competitive in Spain as it has been previously.
“One, we were not quick enough. If we are not able to see that then we are more than blind because we didn’t have the pace in the first stint,” he said.
“Second, I think we struggled a little bit over the course of the weekend with the tyres. they changed but they changed for everyone. So our ambition has to be that we’re better off rather than worse off. That’s the second thing we need to focus on.
“Third it was a poor weekend in terms of reliability. Obviously Kimi had an issue with the engine yesterday, had to engine the engine today and obviously retired in the race, I don’t know what happened. So I think overall there are three things that we must be able to see. If we don’t see those, there are no excuses.”
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