Sebastian Vettel acknowledges Ferrari’s mistake
Sebastian Vettel admitted that there were no issues with his car during the qualifying session in Abu Dhabi. This forces him to start from 16th place, while his teammate, Kimi Räikkönen, will start from third place.
This isn’t the first time Ferrari has fallen into the trap of overconfidence in Q1, leading one of its drivers to be caught and eliminated. This time, it’s Sebastian Vettel, who readily admits: “No problem with the car. We thought the lap on softs was quick enough but, in the end, it wasn’t. There was also a car in front that shouldn’t have been there. We misjudged the situation, a small error has big consequences, but the race is tomorrow and a lot of things can happen.”
On the other hand, while Kimi Räikkönen has had some difficulties in the qualifying exercise since the beginning of the season, he managed to finish 3rd behind the two Mercedes: « It was a good Saturday. I felt good in the car all day. This morning, I struggled on a few laps but, in the end, it was the behavior I expected. It’s then much easier to have a good lap. »
The assessment by Maurizio Arrivabene, the team director, could only be succinct: « A huge mistake on our part made it impossible for Seb to get past Q1. Kimi did a fantastic job, finishing third. »
From our special correspondent in Abu Dhabi
