After a couple of race, Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel has emerged as the man most likely to torpedo the Mercedes juggernaut this season, but he admits the gap of four tenths at the end of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix knocked the wind out of his sails.
In Australia and China, Vettel managed to split the Mercedes during qualifying, but in Bahrain it will be the familiar sight of two Silver Arrows lining up on the front row of the grid.
Vettel reflected after the nigh session in Manama, “In Q2 I thought OK, it will be tight’, happy to go into Q3 – and then I was very happy with my first lap. And when I saw the time, I was a bit down. Four tenths was a lot more than expected given how good I felt.
“On the last run, I tried probably too hard everywhere, we had nothing to lose. I tried a bit harder but didn’t work, was slightly slower. Being a tenth quicker [wouldn’t be] good enough but I tried.”
“I haven’t seen where we lost most of the time, but a little spread everywhere. Sector 1 and 3 stood out, Sector 2 not too bad. I don’t know if they have an update for here, and they can push harder.
“We lost a bit more time there, a bit more than usual. For [the race], the most important thing is the car felt good today,” affirmed Vettel who won the season opener in Melbourne, and is tied in the championship with Hamilton after two rounds.
Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas will start a grand prix from the top spot slot for the first time in his career.
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