Horner believes win was possible

Webber was running second behind Hamilton during the second safety car phase when Vettel made a mistake and ran into the back of him. The incident caused both cars to retire.

Horner reckons that the speed Webber was showing would have allowed him to have a serious go at wresting the lead from Hamilton at the restart.

When asked by autosport.com about if he felt a win had slipped through their fingers, Horner said: "I think it could well have been.

"He had got his head down in true Aussie fashion. He was absolutely on it today. His pace was exceptional, the strategy worked well for us and we had a lot of fuel in the car from the start.

"He had jumped Vettel quite comfortably during the stop and then really closed in on Lewis. In the laps up to the safety car he was doing the same times as Lewis, if not a bit quicker, so it was looking extremely positive at that stage.

"So it was desperately disappointing for Mark to be taken out of the race today under the pace car, because on a day like today, with the conditions we have had, I guess anything could have happened.

"It is an ironic coincidence that it is our sister team who were involved in the incident, but Sebastian is as big a loser as Mark has been today."

Horner said the team had decided in the early stages of the event that they were going to go on the attack against the McLarens, rather than play it safe.

"Basically we had a strategic choice, whether we cover the safety car and take what would have been a guaranteed third behind the two McLarens, or we take them on. We elected to take them on.

"We went the extra laps and really ate into the lead of Lewis. Obviously with Mark the car he was racing with, Lewis, was actually for the lead. And he was finding his rhythm and looking very good, so it is one of those things."