Vettel lied to fool Mercedes

Sebastian Vettel held off a late threat from Mercedes to take his second win of 2018.

Sebastian Vettel has admitted he intentionally misled Mercedes by broadcasting false information over his team radio.

Vettel, who had led the majority of the race, was switched to an alternate strategy after Mercedes had committed to a one-stop strategy. The German was being hunted down by the Mercedes' of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, however, the Ferrari man made sure to comment on the conditions of his tyres.

“Equally I was sure if I’d said the truth and said I’m struggling massively with the tyres they would tell him and make sure that he’s having all the power available until the end. Obviously my plan didn’t work but I tried.”

The eventual race winner managed to make a set of soft tyres do 39 laps, a feat many expected to be impossible. The quick thinking on the Ferrari pit wall gave Vettel the win but it meant he had to nurse his car home.

"They (the tyres) weren’t getting any better. It was really difficult to keep the car on the line especially in turn eight, turn 10, just getting out of the low-speed corners was really tricky.

“We’d probably chase them down but probably to pass is a different story. First we’d have to get past Lewis and then chase Valtteri and pass Valtteri. In the end we tried and it worked. It’s good when it works out like that.”