Sebastian Vettel said he was surprised that Red Bull did not alter his strategy after he lost the lead to Jenson Button on the opening lap of the Turkish Grand Prix.

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."

Vettel was clearly unhappy with the finish as his Red Bull team struggled to explain his result. Greeting their explanation with a stone wall of silence.

"I’m not so happy overall not to have made it on the top step of the podium," said Vettel. "I left from pole. But I did not last more than one lap. It was my mistake and I almost lost the car in the opening lap. It was very windy today with tail-wind. I lost the rear and went wide and lost a bit of speed."

"Later on, I knew that I was lighter than Button. There were chances for me to pass him, but it was risky to pass him on turn 1, and Jenson was just too quick today."

But Vettel’s comments didn’t end there.

"I was hoping that the team would switch to two stops, but they did not. The three stops strategy was not as good as I hoped. We lost because of the strategy. I was not too happy with that."
Source: PaddockTalk

1 J. Button Brawn 58 Winner
2 M. Webber RBR 58 +6.7 secs
3 S. Vettel RBR 58 +7.4 secs

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Sebastian Vettel - 649.5 kg
Jenson Button - 655.5 kg
Rubens Barrichello - 652.5 kg
Mark Webber - 656 kg
Jarno Trulli - 652 kg
Kimi Räikkönen - 658 kg
Felipe Massa - 654 kg
Fernando Alonso - 644.5 kg
Nico Rosberg - 660 kg
Robert Kubica - 664 kg
Nick Heidfeld - 681.5 kg
Kazuki Nakajima - 680.4 kg
Timo Glock - 689 kg
Heikki Kovalainen - 665 kg
Adrian Sutil - 668.5 kg
Lewis Hamilton - 696.5 kg
Nelson Piquet - 689.6 kg
Sébastien Buemi - 686.5 kg
Giancarlo Fisichella - 688.5 kg
Sébastien Bourdais - 701 kg

Sebastian Vettel admitted he was not expecting such a smooth qualifying session following his problems during Friday's practice for the Turkish Grand Prix.

"We will try our best to keep this statistic alive but it won't be easy," Vettel said. "We have a very good chance here, a very good car.

"I expected more difficulties in qualifying but we made it. This is just half way and the main task for us comes tomorrow, it is a long race, very tough, it won't be an easy one, it will be exciting, so let's see."

He added: "In Friday practice we had an engine failure so I was not able to do a lot of laps but I had a good feeling for the car so I was quite confident.

"It was a surprise to be quickest in all sessions. Finally we made it. In the last couple of races we tried hard and finally we are ahead of these white guys (Brawn). Everything is positive so we will see tomorrow."

"I think in China I was confident, but it didn't help at all because the day after it was raining," he said about his victory in Shanghai. "It was a good race for us obviously with the conditions, but we could not show how good we could have been in the dry. Tomorrow should be so let's see how we get on tomorrow. We have done our homework so far but the main demands come tomorrow when we have to race 58 laps around here."
Source: Autosport