Vettel : “It was very difficult to get the tyres to work and find a good rhythm”

Ferrari had a mixed qualifying session on Saturday here in Portimao. Charles Leclerc qualifies in P4 for the second race in row, but his team mate Sebastian Vettel failed to make Q3, the German qualifies in shocking P15 after opting for Mediums in Q2 instead of soft tyres.

When asked about the time gap to his team mate in Qualifying, The four time world Champion gave honest response, “There is nothing I can do right now. He’s driving in another league. Even if I have a good lap he’s still quicker.”

Like other, Sebastian Vettel mainly struggled to generate temperature in his mediums during final flying lap, the time he lost during random FIA check before his final run not helped either. All the drivers went for two laps during their qualifying , one preparation and one flying lap, since Vettel was held by FIA check, he didn’t had much time to go far two laps at the end of Q2.

The German is not optimistic about his chances in tomorrow’s race, “It’s gonna be difficult. This is not the best circuit for overtaking. I think we’re faster than the cars in front of us but we’re stuck in the back so it’s gonna be a tough race”, said Vettel.

Sebastian Vettel (Qualified in P15)

“I’m not happy with today as I struggled a lot to put the laps together. It was very difficult to get the tyres to work and find a good rhythm. In practice I was happy with the Mediums but in quali I had too many issues, probably because of the difficulty of getting the tyres up to temperature.

Starting at the back of the grid is not ideal, as the traffic at this circuit will probably be a big problem. However it will be a similar situation to what we have experienced at some of the recent races. Unfortunately there’s not much we can change on the car and we will have to do our best from the back.”

Charles Leclerc (Qualified in P4)

“I am very happy with my lap and I think we managed to get everything out of the car today. Congratulations to the whole team for the great job they have done, both in Maranello and here at the track. The latest updates we introduced here have also added a bit of performance to our car and the last few qualifying sessions show we are heading in the right direction.

Already yesterday, I had a good feeling about Saturday, while there are still various things we need to look at before the race. But I am very happy to have got through Q2 on the Medium tyre, because I’m sure it’s the ideal tyre for the start of the race. In Germany we suffered on the Soft tyres in the low temperatures, while here it’s not as cold and we have the Mediums. I need to get a good start and if I manage that, I can be in the fight for a strong result.”

Laurent Mekies, Sporting Director

“This afternoon’s qualifying went well, with Charles securing the same position as at the previous round, albeit in very different weather. We brought some more updates here for the SF1000 and, from what we have seen so far, they appear to have delivered a bit more performance. We know it’s nothing major, but it’s enough to be fully in the very close fight for the places right behind the top three drivers. The important thing is that it shows our development work is going in the right direction, for the end of this season, but more importantly for the next.

The team worked well, trying to give the drivers everything they needed on a difficult track that we have never raced on before. For that reason and also because the weather forecast is uncertain, there are a lot of question marks over tomorrow’s race. Considering our difficulties on the softest compound, we aimed to get out of Q2 on the Mediums and we managed it and that will be an important factor in terms of strategy. Sebastian was right on the limit after his first run and in these situations, the driver’s feel for the car is vital, which is why he stuck with the Mediums for his second run in Q2, but it was not enough to improve and so he will start from the eighth row.”