Vettel did "a favor" to Hamilton with the first corner stroke

With Mercedes in a class of its own in Barcelona, ​​Vettel knew that the only chance he had to fight against the German manufacturer was to try something special at first.

The German found a good wake at Bottas and tried to get around the two Mercedes drivers during turn 1 – but eventually braked a bit too late and blocked his right front tire.

More reaction in Barcelona:

While blocking led to a flat point that spoiled his first stint, Vettel thinks the risk of trying to do something sensational on lap 1 was worth it.

And he suggested that his move was a help for Hamilton because he distracted Bottas.

"I wanted to slow down later – which I think I did," Vettel told Motorsport.com about his effort at the first corner. "Obviously, Valtteri was also late and I could not really get in, I could not see him and I knew he was there.

"I saw that he was also braking quite late and if I was just doing it, which I could have done, then he would have nowhere to go and I would go into the other meaning.

"In the end, obviously, I did a favor to Lewis because I distracted Valtteri." It was clear that I could not win the race at the first corner, but I saw that There was something to try.

"I tried it and it did not work, but I hoped to possibly mix things up a bit for me and for you!"

Vettel's tough first stint meant Vettel fell into the hands of his team-mate Charles Leclerc before letting him pass, though he was convinced that he would have stood firm without his tire problem.

"Obviously, my first race was a little compromised," said Vettel. "We did not have many laps where I could keep pace with the car.

"I think we would have been strong in the first stint with the soft tire, I think Charles had a good stint, but on my side, I had a flat position to handle, so lost a lot.

"But once I was out in the open, I felt pretty good and the pace was pretty strong, also compared to Max.

"I think it's just with the safety car anyway, whatever, and it's just what we saw after the safety car that we had more or less the same pace. think the race would have been very close if we had a normal race without the blockage in the first corner. "