Max Verstappen dominated the race after relieving pole sitter Lewis Hamilton of the lead early on. Hamilton’s Mercedes had no answer to Verstappen’s pace and finished a lonely second ahead of the other Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.

Vettel put in a storming drive from the rear of the field to eventually catch, but not pass, Ricciardo, the Ferrari driver having been forced to start from the rear after an engine problem prevented him from qualifying.

But Red Bull boss Christian Horner says his team still would have won even if Vettel had started up front.

"I think we had the pace on all the cars," Horner said. "I think Sebastian was quick at the end of the race because he ran his race back to front.

"But I didn't see any pace in clear air that they had on the supersoft or soft tyre that was quicker than what we were capable of doing today. All weekend the car has been in very good shape.

"We were quicker than anticipated, to be honest with you. I think we felt we would be in good shape.

"The car was very good on its tyres on Friday, very quick in the high speed. Plus the drivers have delivered their bit absolutely as well."

Fourth place for Vettel limited the damage to his championship campaign as thy head to Japan this weekend. With five grands prix still to run, Hamilton leads Vettel by 34 points.

In Japan Vettel will be seeking to capitalise on the Ferrari’s current blistering pace – something which the Ferrari team has comprehensively failed to do in the last two races.

But Vettel may go to Japan with a five-race grid penalty if it is found that his gearbox needs replacing. Vettel's gearbox was damaged in a bizarre  collision between Vettel and Lance Stroll's Williams on the slow down lap after the race.