Lewis Hamilton has branded Sebastian Vettel "lucky" following the German's third-place finish in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The Red Bull driver started from the back of the grid in the United Arab Emirates after being penalised by the race steward for having to stop his car on the track during qualifying.
The Grand Prix itself was littered with track problems caused by collisions, forcing the safety car to twice make an appearance.
Hamilton, who was forced out of the race with electrical failure, believes that without the safety car Vettel would have struggled to get anywhere near his eventual podium finish.
"Vettel got lucky with the second safety car," Hamilton told Sky Sports News.
"To keep him behind when he had brand-new tyres was so difficult because he had really good traction out of the slow corners.
"He did very well on the prime tyres, the car is quick, but if he didn't have those two safety cars he wouldn't have been up there."
Vettel leads Fernando Alonso in the drivers' championship by ten points.
