Sebastian Vettel believes third place was the best Red Bull could have hoped for in the German grand prix at Hockenheim, due to the extraordinary pace of the Ferraris.

Vettel managed to grab pole position, but the 23-year old got bogged down at the start and was trounced by both Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa into turn one.

"Normally we have very good starts, so I'm not really sure what happened today," said Vettel.

"I had quite a lot of grip, I dumped the clutch, but got bogged down, so the first five to ten metres of the acceleration were poor.

"I was lucky I didn't stall the engine, but I lost the momentum so I knew that it would be very tight with Fernando who I was already side by side with.

"There was no way I could stay ahead of him and then I was surprised to see Felipe coming from the left."

Massa led the way, having got a clear run around the outside of turn one, while Vettel tried desperately to defend his position from Alonso by squeezing the Spaniard into the pit-wall.

Despite losing out, the Red Bull driver kept the Alonso honest throughout the race, but ran out of laps to catch Massa in the closing stages of the grand prix, after the Brazilian had relinquished his lead to Alonso.

"The closer I got to the car in front, I began to feel tyres losing grip and starting to grain, but I think for most of the race the Ferraris were probably a tenth or two quicker than us," said Vettel.

"It was difficult to keep up the pace. Towards the end we were able to push again a little bit.

"We finished third and I think we can be proud of that.

"We achieved our maximum today and I was very pleased to be on the podium.

"It's very special for me at my home grand prix, it's great to see the people here and to be on the podium - to see everyone cheering is very nice and emotional."

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner agreed that the start was crucial in determining the outcome of the race, as both his drivers lost ground due to slow starts.

"Today's race was dictated by the start," said Horner.

"Unfortunately Sebastian didn't get away cleanly and ended up on the right-hand side of the track.

"Massa got a good run on the left and we emerged from turn one in P3 – that's what shaped the race as far as Sebastian was concerned.

"With Mark, we took a calculated risk with the pit-stop.

"After that, he got caught up behind Rosberg, which cost him a bit of time and allowed Jenson to jump him."

After that strategic blunder, Webber's race went from bad to worse, as he had to manage an oil consumption problem that could have potentially lead to an engine failure.

Fortunately, he had a comfortable advantage over those behind him and he was able to simply nurse his ailing RB6 home to take eight points for sixth place, while Vettel chased down the red cars at the front.

"He did an excellent job in nursing an oil system issue that he managed well to the end of the race to score some important points," said Horner.

This result puts both Vettel and Webber in an equal third place in the drivers championship with 136 points, so any decisions regarding who should receive new parts in Hungary could be difficult for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.