Sebastian Vettel started the race from seventh after a disappointing qualifying session, which was four places behind his young team-mate Charles Leclerc, who started the race in third behind both Mercedes drivers.
The 31-year-old German felt he had quite an isolated race at the Paul Ricard Circuit on Sunday with some reprieve from the loneliness coming in the form of challenges from both McLaren drivers.
“I had a pretty lonely race, apart from a bit of confusion at the start, given that the timing of the lights going out caught us a bit by surprise,” Vettel said.
“It was fun fighting with the McLarens, first [Lando] Norris then Carlos [Sainz].
“The first stint went pretty well and that meant I could close the gap to Charles and Max [Verstappen].
“Then in the second one, I had a few more balance problems and I didn’t feel totally comfortable with the car.
“I think today’s fifth place was the most we could have done, given that Charles, Max and me were all running at pretty much the same pace.”
Both Mercedes drivers were in a league of their own on Sunday with the Lewis Hamilton going on to claim his sixth win in eight races.
The British driver and team-mate Valtteri Bottas have won every race this season with the Finnish driver claiming the other two wins.
Hamilton currently tops the Driver standings with 187 points and is 36 point ahead Bottas in second place.
Vettel is currently third in the standings, but has now seen the gap to Hamilton increase to 76 points after Sunday’s race.
It could have been one more but the German managed to secure the fastest lap of the race after he made the most of a late pit stop for fresh soft tyres.
“At least getting the fastest race lap means I get an extra point,” Vettel said.
“We still need to understand why Friday was so complicated with some of the parts we brought here not working as we had hoped.
“Our car is not yet strong enough and it’s down to us to improve.
“We still don’t have the pace to beat Mercedes, but I know that everyone at Maranello is working with so much positive pressure – and passion.”