Ferrari delighted with Vettel podium

Vettel defeated the Mercedes-powered Williams of Felipe Massa in a race-long tussle over third place, but finished 34 seconds behind the Mercedes of race winner Lewis Hamilton.

“I’m very happy,” he said. “Obviously it’s a great start to the season for us after a very good winter already. The team has worked phenomenally hard, and we can be very proud of this result.”

Ferrari technical director James Allison also believes this is a sign of Ferrari’s big step forward over the winter after a major backroom overhaul.

“In the whole of last year we got one podium,” said Allison. “It’s the first race, and we’ve got a podium, and that’s going to make you happy on any level.

“We are aware as anyone that the gap to the front is big, and we’ll do our best to chase it down during the year. It’s an interesting year this one, because we’ve got a lot more development possibility with the engine and stuff, so we’ll see where that takes us.

On the subject of Kimi Raikkonen, who exited the race after a botched pitstop with a loose rear-left wheel, Allison added: “Kimi was pretty decent in pace terms as well, although we’re very fed up with what happened in the pitstop.

“We don’t know what the problem was until we see the car.”