Vettel surprised by strategy decision

The pole-sitter ran wide in the Turn 9/10 chicane on lap one, allowing Button to sweep past. He then remained on his planned three-stop strategy and eventually fell to third behind two-stoppers Button and Mark Webber.

Although Vettel used his lighter fuel load to close on Button in his second stint, he was unable to pass the Brawn before pitting again, ruined any hope of using the alternate strategy to gain an advantage.

"When we have seen Jenson was not behind us, I thought we were switching to two stops," said Vettel.

"Then in the second stint I was in traffic to Jenson, I nearly passed him, I had one chance but it was quite tricky and after that I lost a bit of time.

"It turned out three stopping was possibly not as quick as two stops."

Vettel admitted that he could only blame himself for the opening lap error.

"I nearly lost car in turns 9/10," he said. "It was my mistake. All day it was difficult there - maybe there was a tail wind. On the second lap I nearly lost the car again."

But he reckoned that ultimately the Brawn was just too fast to beat today.

"I don't think it would have made a big difference as Jenson was too quick today," said Vettel. "I don't hink I would have been able to hold him."

The German caught team-mate Webber for second in the final stint, but received a radio message from the team telling him that Webber was faster and he should conserve his car. Although Vettel continued closing on the second-placed Red Bull, he insisted he had heeded the instruction.

"They did not tell me to pass Mark, they said Mark was faster, so similar to what he did, we turned the engine down," said Vettel.

"If you start from pole you want to win and if you lose the lead on the first lap it is not good. If you see someone has quicker pace it is not nice to see.

"I was third and of course I was not happy with that and kept pushing to the end. I turned the engine down, but I would rather go fast for the last few laps than just going around."