After leading a Ferrari front row lock out for the Bahrain Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel said he was surprised to hold the competitive edge over Mercedes in Q3.
Vettel hooked together a perfect lap to snatch pole position from teammate Kimi Raikkonen in the closing seconds of Q3. Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton had to settle for third and fourth — the latter will start ninth after a gearbox penalty — as the reigning world champions were unable to make a difference with its fabled « party mode » engine setting in the final stages of qualifying.
« I think it’s surprising for us to be, after Australia, that competitive, » Vettel said. « Obviously I think we have good pace, the car is working. In Australia I think we struggled a little bit with the feel for the car, I think here it’s been better. We improved a little bit working with the car. In the beginning of the season it’s always difficult because we don’t know yet the car that well.
« It’s getting better, obviously today was quite nice and the car came alive. I didn’t have much session this morning, or this afternoon. It was a bit tricky to know what we expect but I felt quite good right from the start and I knew that I can pick progress throughout the session. »
« We mostly tried to work on the set up, understanding the car. So we tried different things. Obviously across the weekend you don’t have that much time. In Australia, the first race in Australia it was a tricky track, it’s improving a lot throughout the weekend, it’s very bumpy.
« It’s difficult to change too much and draw any conclusions. I think after the weekend, after the race distance specially when you have so many laps, I think I had a very good understanding and feel. Obviously we’ve been talking about it and looking into it and I think overall we’ve been happier,
Vettel’s first lap featured a mistake at the final corner, where the four-time world champion ran wide and ran across the kerbs. That left him 0.1s behind Raikkonen, but going into his successful final attempt he knew pole would be his if he could get through Turn 14 cleanly.
« Q3, that’s when I wanted it to peak and I think I peaked in the first run just before the last corner when I wanted a bit too much! So I knew I had it in me and basically it was a bit copy, paste, the final lap I had, but the final corner I managed to stay away from the kerb.
« Very happy with both laps in the end. Happy obviously with the result, the car, the way the car was handling and responding. So yeah, chuffed. »
http://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/23064681/sebastian-vettel-surprised-ferrari-front-row-lock-bahrain
