Brazil GP: Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull were the best of the rest
In a qualifying session once again dominated by Mercedes-powered teams, Sebastian Vettel managed to stand out by securing 6th place. He outpaced his teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, who never found his rhythm and could do no better than 9th.
Brazil’s qualifications have been an illustration of the season: the Mercedes engine once again imposed its dominance on the other teams. For Christian Horner, the team director, it is difficult to do better than the 6th and 9th places achieved by his drivers: « It was a qualification totally dominated by Mercedes. I think the 6th and 9th places are representative of where we are on this track. Daniel lost a bit of performance compared to this morning while Sebastian found some. We are not as well placed as we would like. »
The four-time world champion, for once, dominated his teammate in the qualifying exercise, thanks to continuous improvements: « I was increasingly satisfied with the car as the qualifying progressed. We are in a good position for the start of the race tomorrow. It will be tough to beat the Mercedes and Williams from where we are, but it’s Brazil, and anything can happen. »
On the other hand, Daniel Ricciardo regretted not capitalizing on the good performances shown in free practice: The day was going well until qualifying and then we lost a lot of performance. I went out quite quickly in Q1 and there were a bit of debris on the track. So I thought we could go faster and faster but we never found the performance we were looking for. I was surprised to get into Q3 with my Q2 lap. I felt more comfortable in Q3 but was only a tenth faster. It’s a bit frustrating. We should have finished better than 9th because we hoped to finish in the top 5 after our pace in free practice.
But the Australian has managed to make some very impressive comebacks since the beginning of the season, and the rain could reshuffle the deck during the race.
