Scuderia Ferrari's German driver Sebastian Vettel kissses the trophy after winning the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix race at Hungaroring in Mogyorod, Hungary on July 30, 2017. (Xinhua/Jure Makovec)
MOGYOROD, Hungary, July 30 (Xinhua) -- German driver Sebastian Vettel said on Sunday that the Hungarian F1 Grand Prix was a tough one after he won the event at the Hungaroring in Mogyorod, Hungary.
Vettel won his 46th career victory in his 50th outing for the Scuderia Ferrari. He had some problems with steering but managed to win, his first win in five races after his last one in Monaco.
"It was a tough one. I was hoping for a bit more of a quiet afternoon. I had a very good pace and I think Kimi had a good pace," Vettel explained at the press conference.
"I think he could go a lot faster than me for the majority of the race. I don't know, I felt already that there was something not right when we dropped the car on the grid," he added.
"I'm over the moon. I mean it was really difficult race, maybe it did not look like, but I had my hands full from three, four laps after the safety car. The steering started to go sideways," Vettel said from the podium after the race.
"It was a weird feeling, because basically it was tilted to the left so you go down the straights and the steering (wheel) is not straight and then in right-handers it is sort of OK but in left-handers you have to get used to it," Vettel added.
"The biggest chance was in the start and then took it quite easily at the beginning and my car was handling well and I was closing up," Kimi Raikkonen explained during the press conference.
"We were pretty much on the safe side in the first stint because we pulled away from Mercedes and then I catch up with Sebastian (Vettel) again in the end of the first stint, but once he went in I had very good speed, I could have stayed longer out," Raikkonen added.
Third place Valtteri Bottas had to let his team-mate Lewis Hamilton pass him on lap 47 in order to close the gap behind the Ferraris. In case Hamilton could not get closer, the team promised Bottas he would be able to get back in front of the Briton.
Bottas' thoughts after the race were circumspect. "First of all the start was quite average so I couldn't really attack in Turn One. The initial bit of the start was OK but then I had bad upshift from first to second gear so I lost a bit of momentum and after it was tricky."
"With the issues of Sebastian, everything started to be a bit more interesting," he added.
Mercedes had some problems, too. "We were struggling with radio communications. I don't know what was the issue," said the Finnish driver. "I was trying to get close enough to Kimi at some point to attack but there was no opportunity, and then we swapped, as a team, and Lewis tried it as well."
"He (Lewis Hamilton) couldn't make it and the team kept the promise, which I'm really, really happy about and really thankful for the team that we swapped again at the end. Big thanks to Lewis as well because I don't think every team-mate would have done the swap back," Bottas said.
