Vettel admits to mistake after costly spin

Sakhir, April 1: Sebastian Vettel accepted responsibility for a costly spin which ended his hopes of a podium finish at the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday (March 31).

The Ferrari driver, who had earlier led the race, was running second as he battled Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton on lap 38, but spun after being overtaken by the world champion and lost his front wing moments later.

He dropped down to ninth and eventually scrambled back to finish in fifth place behind race winner Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, team-mate Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen.

The spin followed similar incidents for the four-time champion in Italy, Japan and the United States last season, and he conceded it was an error on his part.

"It was difficult," Vettel told Sky Sports. "We all struggled at various points in the race, but l really struggled at the beginning of the race.

"Then on the medium tyre it was maybe a bit better but overall there was not the pace l wanted to have. Not sure why. And on top, I had the mistake with the spin. So not a good evening."

He added of the incident: "The wind probably didn't help. It was turning into a tailwind on that corner the whole race, but maybe the fact that Hamilton was just ahead sheltered some [wind], I don't know. "I lost the car very suddenly once I spun and it was too late. Unfortunately, we had so much damage with the tyres that it caused the front wing to fail, so not great."

Luck not on our side today, finishing not where we wanted to be. But you guys have been great. #Seb5 #Charles16 #SF90 #essereFerrari #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/hUp5QxX29e

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) March 31, 2019

Ferrari had the fastest car throughout the week, but were denied victory when a late engine issue for Leclerc saw the pole-sitter fall from first to third just as a maiden Formula One win was within the youngster's grasp.

"It was his race to take so I'm unhappy for him and for the team," said Vettel.

"It was a disappointing day overall – starting at the front and not finishing [there] is not what we wanted."