Breaking news
Formula 1 Mexican GP
Vettel: I nearly lost the car on my pole lap
Sebastian Vettel has revealed that he nearly blew it on his sensational pole position lap for the Mexican Grand Prix when he briefly lost control of his car.
Jonathan Noble
Edited: Oct 28, 2017, 8:21 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The German knew he needed to pull something special out of the bag on his final Q3 effort as Max Verstappen had produced a brilliant first lap in the top 10 shootout.
But after a purple first sector, Vettel says he had a moment at the tricky second-gear Turn 6 right-hander, which forced him to drop down to first in his bid to recover.
Luckily for him, he lost very little time and was able to get going again, finishing his lap to steal pole position from Verstappen by just 0.086 seconds.
Speaking about the effort needed to beat Max Verstappen, Vettel said: "He was very quick in Q2, I don't know where he pulled that from – we had to stretch all of us.
"It is difficult out here. The altitude has an effect on the asphalt and its ageing and it makes it slippery – and then he goes four tenths quicker than anybody else. So I thought how do I do that?
"I thought if I had a clean first sector it would be good, but then I had a moment in Turn 6. I nearly lost the car, and had to go down to first gear, but I managed to get it through there without any time loss.
"Then I was able to push until the end. After the line I knew it would be close, but I didn't know what the others were doing. When I heard it was enough it was like an explosion in the car. I had one yesterday with the extinguisher – but today was a real one!"
Vettel knows that despite his 50th pole position in F1, rival Lewis Hamilton only needs to finish fifth to secure himself the drivers' world championship.
Speaking about the approach and how he would feel winning the race where he lost the title, Vettel said: "We don't need to debate what is the bigger cup. We do our race and there is not much point in looking at what others are doing. The position we are in, we need to maximise our pace."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Verstappen "super annoyed" to miss out on maiden F1 pole
Next article Ricciardo “confused, annoyed, helpless” after dismal Mexico qualifying
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel gives update on F1 future as he opens up on life after retirement
Formula 1
Formula 1
Azerbaijan GP
Sebastian Vettel gives update on F1 future as he opens up on life after retirement
Sebastian Vettel: F1 must combine “things we love” with sustainable future
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sebastian Vettel: F1 must combine “things we love” with sustainable future
More from
Ferrari
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
5 h
The figures that show Mercedes has lost its supremacy in F1 2026
Ferrari promotes F2 racer to F1 reserve driver role
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Ferrari promotes F2 racer to F1 reserve driver role
Latest news
NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
1 min
NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar
Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 33 min
Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026
Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
44 min
Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP
KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP 1 h
KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe