The Ferrari driver was leading when the race was stopped following the huge crash involving Fernando Alonso and Esteban Gutierrez.

During the stoppage, rival Nico Rosberg switched to medium tyres while Ferrari decided to keep Vettel on the supersofts.

The move meant Vettel had to stop again while Rosberg made it to the finish with his set.

The Mercedes driver went on to win the race from teammate Lewis Hamilton, who also used mediums to get to the end of the race.

"We went for the aggressive route," said Vettel after finishing in third.

"Maybe with hindsight we could have done something else, but I don't want to blame anyone. It's a shame the other car didn't make it but it is positive.

"The team is in good shape, we know we can up our game and put pressure on these guys.

"You can argue the red flag didn't help us, but once it plays into our favour and then catches you out."

Ferrari "a lot closer"

Despite the disappointment, Vettel admitted he was delighted with Ferrari's progress, as he reckons the Italian squad is much closer to Mercedes this year.

"Definitely we were a lot closer than last year," said Vettel. "This was one of our worse tracks. We expected to be stronger in qualifying, that wasn't the case as we had a bit of a rough session.

"Today was a lot better for us.

"We are on the right track and things are coming together. All in all we are a lot closer so plenty of positives."

Vettel's teammate Kimi Raikkonen retired from the race with an engine problem.