Vettel OK with second place; Ferrari drivers see progress

Sebastian Vettel said he was content with second place in Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, an event he had won for the previous three years, and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen say progress is being made.

Sebastian Vettel's second-place finish at Singapore is the highlight of a miserable season so far for the four-time Formula One champion, left, that has often seen his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, have more pace. Lars Baron / Getty ImagesShow less

Sebastian Vettel said he was content with second place in Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix, an event he had won for the previous three years.

The four-time champion had briefly led in the closing stages in his Red Bull Racing car before being passed by the Mercedes-GP car of Lewis Hamilton and he said: "There was no point fighting him at that stage because I didn't have the tyres to match him," said Vettel, left, in reference to his two-stop strategy in relation to Hamilton's three stops.

“We tried to obviously stay out with the last set of tyres and make them work, which was very, very much borderline.

FERRARI DRIVERS SEE IMPROVEMENT

Ferrari drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso are optimistic for the future after the much-changed Italian team showed signs of progress with both drivers in the points.

Spaniard Alonso finished fourth under the floodlights at the Marina Bay street circuit while Finn Raikkonen was eighth after complaining about being stuck behind the slower Williams cars for much of a race at a venue renowned for a lack of overtaking places.

That came in the first race since long-serving Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo announced last week he was stepping down.

His exit will follow that of team principal Stefano Domenicali, who was replaced by Marco Mattiacci in April and 2007 world champion Raikkonen said the changes were a positive thing.

“People at the top think there is a need for changes. Things go forward and things keep changing. I think it is a good move, there has been a lot going on with Ferrari this year,” he said.

“It is not an easy place to be when the results are not good, but I think we have a great group of people and know where the weak points are and we have been improving them a lot this year for the coming years.

“They are making sure that things are in the right place to put us where we should be. I think they are good changes and it will pay off in future.”

Alonso, who won the Singapore race in 2008 and 2010, briefly threatened a third win before an untimely safety car period damaged his hopes.

“The strategy I think was good, just the moment of the safety car was a bit unlucky,” said the double world champion, who bemoaned his old tyres for his struggles to attack Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull Racing car in third place over the closing laps.

“I think the car is getting better but the results, they didn’t change too much. Germany, Hungary, Belgium and here we were more or less similar. Fourth, fifth, third so already its four or five races where we seem more competitive.”

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