Sebastian Vettel conceded defeat to Massa and Williams for a place on the Austrian Grand Prix podium.

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The German’s fourth place finish right on the tail Felipe Massa was somewhat of a surprise given the Ferrari driver’s good performance in qualifying and reputed excellent race pace. But Vettel admitted the result of his afternoon’s work was the best he could have achieved.

“Massa did a good job,” Vettel said after the race. “He made a few mistakes but nothing major, and he got the exits right so it was very tricky for me. We know that the Williams is one of the most difficult cars to pass.

“Also they had strong pace today so it was not like we were 1second a lap quicker and we could choose the place where we want to pass. I was obviously trying to create something but it didn’t happen. I ran out of magic…”

Referring to his impressive run in free practice, Vettel didn’t believe that level of performance had vanished but rather acknowledged the outright speed of rivals Williams and Mercedes.

“I don’t think it disappeared, the car was feeling good but probably the others were able to find a little bit (of performance).

“It’s very simple to explain, Mercedes seem to be able to run their high power qualifying mode more often in the race, surely in the opening laps.

“And Williams has the same engine so in that regard the result was not a surprise.”

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