Vettel: ‘It felt like it would never end’

Sebastian Vettel said he felt like the German Grand Prix “would never end” after he went from P20 to P2 in a crazy race.

After failing to set a lap in qualifyingdue to a turbo issue, Vettel set about making steady if not spectacular progress through the field as the rain fell at the Hockenheimring.

However, following Valtteri Bottas’ crash the Safety Car allowed Vettel to close onto the train of Daniil Kvyat, Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz, with the German clearing the trio to claim P2.

It wasn’t the perfect day for Ferrari with Vettel’s team-mateCharles Leclerc hitting the barriersshortly before he would have taken the net lead of the race, but the German provided his team with a reason to smile at his home race.

“It was a long race, at some stages it felt like it would never end and it was very tough with the conditions and I’m just happy. It was a lot of fun,” he told Sky Sports F1.

“It took a while, at the beginning with the intermediates I couldn’t get going but eventually it was good that the afternoon took so long and I stayed tidy for most of the race.

“For me, it was just a case of go and get the next car, and then the next car.”

#Seb5takes P2 Amazing! Last lap,#GermanGP

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari)July 28, 2019

Vettel came alive after the final SC period, and he admitted that just before this he realised he had a pace advantage over those ahead.

“Before the last Safety Car, I realised I was quite a bit quicker and could move past people,” he explained.

“I was a little bit faster and could time it right. I saw people being cautious on the first corner and it worked getting into DRS range and I had moves down the back straight. But this race was so long.”

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