Sebastian Vettel: "No team orders at Ferrari"

Sebastian Vettel says that Ferrari team orders played no part in deciding today's race. Vettel stayed out 5 laps longer than Raikkonen, who boxed on lap 35. In that time, Vettel turned up the wick and set fast laps.

The result of the overcut saw Vettel emerge out ahead of his teammate and secure a one-two for Ferrari, ending the Maranello outfit's drought around the streets at Monte Carlo. When asked if he thinks that team orders played a role in the race, Vettel denied it.

"No, not really, I don't think there was a plan. We couldn't plan much, the plan was to try and pull away, which we did," he said. "Then Valtteri had really good pace, we were struggling more with our rears and at that point the window opened.

"So Valtteri obviously pitted, Kimi responded, for me I think I still had a bit of a gap, nothing to lose in P2, so I tried to push as hard as possible. Within two laps I was surprised myself to be able to pull a gap to be able to come out in front."

A late safety car was deployed due to an incident between Jenson Button and Pascal Wehrlein, which saw the field pack up once again. Vettel said the first couple of laps were tough but was then able to manage the pace.

"I could control the race, after the restart it was really tricky with the cold tyres, I think everyone else was really struggling," he said. "At Turn 1 [on the] first [restart] lap, it was really difficult but after a couple of laps I was able to control the gap behind."

Fergal Walsh