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F1 Hungarian GP: Vettel blames track traits for podium miss

Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari has suffered a repeat of problems endured at the Spanish Grand Prix with track position and limited overtaking opportunities hampering his podium charge.

After leapfrogging Max Verstappen in the first round of pit stops to go fourth Vettel found his path blocked by a second Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.

Despite having fresher tyres than the Australian driver and confident he had the pace for third, Vettel says limited overtaking chances at the tight and twisty Hungaroroing denied him a good chance for an overtake.

Vettel feels Ferrari lost out to the Milton Keynes squad in the same manner it had in Barcelona when both he and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen failed to find a way past the Red Bulls.

"I think we were a lot faster but it is Hungary and you know you need to be more than a lot faster," Vettel said. "I think we had half a second to a second when Ricciardo's tyres started to drop off and doing small mistakes but not enough for us to get past.

"I think the car was fine today, in terms of pace we are not matching Mercedes they seem to be in a league of their own but we are right behind. It is tricky.

"In Barcelona we were faster but we couldn't find a way past. I think we were a lot more competitive today but yesterday didn't go well and we were unlucky with the yellow flag and traffic after that. That is how it goes."

Having been forced to settle for fourth place in Hungary it marks the third consecutive race Vettel has missed the podium, making it his longest stretch since joining Ferrari in 2015.

Zdroj: crash.net