Vettel baffled by Ferrari's lack of speed

Frustrated four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel asked the question all Ferrari fans were wondering at the Australian Grand Prix as Mercedes dominated the Formula One season opener.

But it seems there are more questions than answers for the Scuderia after being left in Mercedes' wake in Melbourne.

Vettel admitted he had no idea why his Ferrari had struggled after there was no sign of the blistering speed shown at recent testing in Spain when the flag dropped at Albert Park.

Vettel had backed himself to join Michael Schumacher as the only drivers to win three straight Australian GPs after starting third on the grid on Sunday.

But he had no answer to Mercedes' raw pace, finishing almost a minute behind winner Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes and finishing in a distant fourth.

Bottas was almost 21 seconds ahead of teammate and favourite, five-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Vettel missed the podium altogether when he was overtaken by Max Verstappen on lap 31 in a Red Bull powered by a new and unproven Honda engine.

"Why are we so slow?," Vettel asked on the team radio late in the 58-lap race.

The German couldn't shed any more light by the time he faced the media post-race.

"I guess we were just slow," he said.

"I didn't have much chance to fight anyone, just a case of getting to the end.

"Not quite sure what the issue was."

Finishing fourth was a tough pill to swallow but it could have been worse for Vettel.

His new Ferrari teammate, young gun Charles Leclerc, looked set to overtake Vettel late in the race before being told to back off on the team radio.

Despite Vettel claiming Leclerc was "free to race" him this series, his new teammate quickly learned he had been relegated to No.2 status as he loomed in the former world champion's rearview mirror.

When Leclerc asked if he could push his teammate, he was told on team radio to "back off to have some margin".

To his credit, Leclerc said he understood the decision after finishing fifth.

"I had the pace to get past Seb, but the team decided to freeze the positions via team radio and in the end there was nothing to win - I understand," he said.

Australian Associated Press