Sebastian Vettel feels the Hungarian Grand Prix race win was within his grasp, but a problem with his brakes prevented him from pushing too hard.
The defending World Champion started Sunday's race at the Hungaroring in pole position but he slipped to P2 behind Lewis Hamilton as he struggled on the wet track. Things didn't get much better after the second round of pit stops as he dropped to fourth behind the two McLarens and his team-mate Mark Webber.
However, the move to put him on super soft tyres for his last stint, as well as the decision not to bring him in for a change to intermediate tyres, paid off for the German and he was able to move up to P2.
"I was struggling a bit in the first stint with the intermediate tyres, Lewis (Hamilton) was a bit faster, then I lost it down into Turn 2," Vettel said after the race. "I lost the lead and obviously the circuit was drying, so we maybe could have come in a lap earlier.
"On the super soft tyre I was feeling quite good initially but there was quite a lot of drop off, I think it was the same for all of us with the track being quite green. I think both times I would love to have pitted one lap earlier, although it was quite fun to see the McLaren's very close again. But then in the last stint, I had to let Jenson go."
Vettel finished just 3.50 seconds behind Button in the end, but he says he couldn't push any harder as he had a problem with his brakes.
"I felt that I had a bit more speed in the car but I had a couple of problems with the brakes and it was difficult to know how the car would be at the end. I couldn't push as hard as I would like to, second today is an important step, but I think the win was within reach today and we didn't get it.
"We need to work hard because both of the McLarens are very, very strong in all sorts of conditions, so it's clear now for a couple of races that they have done a step forward. We need to make sure that we come back, definitely."
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