Sebastian Vettel says winning Hungarian Grand Prix was possible
Sebastian Vettel believes victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix was possible, the German conceding he was not 100 per cent happy with second place
Vettel, who was starting from pole position, crossed the finish line over three seconds behind race winner Jenson Button.
It was the third race in a row that Vettel, winner of six of the first eight races of the season, did not win.
The Red Bull driver says his team must react and fight back at Spa after the summer break.
"I think that win was in reach today so it was not impossible," said Vettel. "The emotions are going through right now. In the championship it was a good race with a lot of people finishing behind us apart from Jenson.
"I think the most important message is that especially McLaren in the last two races are very competitive. We are not happy with that, I am sure Jenson is, so we need to come back for Spa."
He added: "Today I am not 100 per cent happy. I started from pole and felt I could win race, it was not impossible, with many drivers doing small mistakes. So I' mot 100 per cent happy because the target is to win and not be second.
"We got good points today but there is a long, long way to go. We have seen how quickly things can change so we need to make sure we see the chequered flag.
"Yes, I am happy but not entirely. We go out there, we try to get pole on Saturday, we did yesterday and we try to win on Sunday, which we didn't do today. There was a chance and we didn't use it, so we need to look into that."
Despite finishing second, Vettel managed to increase his lead in the standings to 85 points to team-mate Mark Webber.
But the German claimed he is still not thinking about the title, but rather about winning as many races as possible.
"I think second in the championship is Mark but I don't know how many points, I don't care, I don't calculate them," he said. "I see Fernando ahead of me on a different set of tyres and I don't think about the championship when I am racing, I think about trying to win.
"Jenson scored more points today, other people scored less, but that is not really important. Our target has to be to win races and I can tell you - we still feel very hungry. I feel hungry, hungry in Hungary, to win races."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
McLaren needs to understand puzzling “up and down” F1 form - Piastri
The F1 hero to zero dividing line that has never been so thin
Mercedes taking action to cure F1 car's “underlying balance” problem
Hamilton: Vettel an "amazing option" as Mercedes F1 replacement
Vettel still unsure about 2024 Le Mans debut after Porsche test
The contrasting fortunes of F1's big-name moves to Ferrari
F1 announces 24/7 streaming channel in the US
Schumacher confident Alpine can optimise WEC tyre warming procedures
Full-time IndyCar move “an option” says supersub Pourchaire
McLaren needs to understand puzzling “up and down” F1 form - Piastri
The F1 hero to zero dividing line that has never been so thin
How Stroll and Magnussen revealed the scale of F1’s racing and rules problems
Did F1's new sprint format work?
Chinese Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2024
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments