Vettel proud of hard-earned point

The German driver completed a strong weekend for him after securing the final point thanks to en eighth place in his home race.

That despite Vettel losing out during the safety car period, which saw him dropped outside the top eight.

"It was a tough race with a lot of fights but it was big fun," said Vettel. "The first lap was hard and close. I tried to pass Kimi, but it didn't work out. I took some time to find a rhythm but I had a wonderful car and could run a great pace.

"I was disappointed when I saw the Safety Car as I was comfortably holding a points position, but we did the best we could in the situation. I fought to the end and although I was quicker than Jarno I could not pass and then he made a mistake, which brought me back to eighth place.

"Congratulations to everyone in the team. Eighth with no retirements, means we deserved to finish where we did and I am proud of that."

Teammate Sebastien Bourdais was worse off during the safety car period, as the Frenchman was forced to wait behind Vettel before his pitstop.

The Frenchman went on to finish in 12th place.

"I am happy with this result in terms of the pace I could run, but I was a bit unlucky with the Safety Car incident, as I knew it would involve me queuing in the pits behind Sebastian," he said. "I was able to keep up with Heidfeld in the first stint and the lap times were decent. The car worked better on the Option tyre.

"Overall, I had a strong race and kept pushing, hanging on to take twelfth. So now, I need to repeat this sort of performance and hopefully have some good luck to see it move me further up the order."