He may not have finished on the podium, but Sebastian Vettel was "quite happy" with his performance at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The defending World Champion started ninth on the grid after deciding to sit out Q3 to save his tyres and it worked like a charm as an excellent start on the softs saw him move up to P6 on the opening lap.
He then opted for a 45-lap stint and at one stage he opened a 16-second lead over team-mate Mark Webber. After eventually pitting, he came out P4 behind Webber, Nico Rosberg and Fernando Alonso and maintained that position until the chequered flag.
The German was naturally happy to have made up so much ground on the front-runners during his opening stint.
"Mark raced his race, I raced my race. In the end we had opposite strategies - same strategies, but obviously he started on the supersoft and I started on the soft and then the other way round in the end," Vettel told Sky Sports F1.
"As I said, I think he was pushing his race, I was pushing my race. For me it was important to use the couple of laps I was in the lead and in the end we were able to gain about eight seconds so I can be quite happy with that.
"But obviously in the end [it was] difficult to pass and gain some more places."
The 24-year-old admits it was a "challenge" to go so long on the softs.
"Especially in my case I stayed out quite long in the first stint - longer than the all the rest - but we had some good laps," he said.
"So it wasn't disastrous and in the end obviously you can't judge because we couldn't go [at] the speed that was maybe in the car."
Related Links
Webber Makes It Six From Six In Monaco
Monaco GP In Pictures
