Breaking news
Formula 1 British GP
Vettel "just didn't click" with car in heavy qualifying defeat
Sebastian Vettel said he “couldn’t get on top” of his Ferrari Formula 1 car after a disappointing qualifying session at Silverstone.
Adam Cooper Jonathan Noble
Edited: Jul 13, 2019, 3:38 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The former world champion could manage only sixth on Sunday’s grid, having been outpaced by teammate Charles Leclerc in all three sessions.
“I think I just struggled to extract what was in the car,” said the German. “I couldn’t get the right feel, I’m not happy with how it went.
“It didn’t look great on my side, I struggled to feel the car today, just couldn’t get on top of it in time.”
Vettel admitted that the biggest frustration was his failure to improve over the three sessions.
“Just didn’t click, so from my point of view right from Q1 I wasn’t able to extract any more from the car, we hovered around the same times.
“We struggled to squeeze out everything from the tyres, from the car. I think it’s fair to say we were just doing the same from Q1 to Q3, I wasn’t really going with the track, unlike anyone else."
Asked about prospects for the race, Vettel said: “Mercedes should be the favourite, but I think we’ll have a fair battle with the Red Bulls, and take it from there.”
Leclerc, who was an encouraging fastest in Q2, lost out to Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton in the final session, and lines up third.
The Monegasque driver, who outpaced Vettel by over six tenths and was just 0.079s off pole, felt he couldn’t have done any more.
“Very, very happy with my lap," Leclerc said. "I think in the last corner I maybe could have done a little bit better, but not much.
"Overall we are very happy with the performance, very close to the Mercedes and we did not expect it, we thought we would be struggling more this weekend.
“We have been struggling since P1 with the front end of the car, still in qualifying, but a bit less. It was a good qualifying session for us and I will have hoped for a higher position, but third is the best we can do today.
Both Ferrari drivers set their Q2 times on the soft tyre, as they did in Austria, whereas their main rivals at Mercedes and Red Bull will start the race on the medium.
Vettel made it clear this was because "we think it's better to start on the soft", while Leclerc added: “We wanted to do that, again I think in Austria it was not a bad choice. That is not what made us finish second there, so we are pretty happy here too.”
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 Hamilton's pace "deteriorated" during British GP qualifying
Next article Verstappen: "Bummer" turbo lag cost me shot at pole
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
Charles Leclerc
Charles Leclerc admits he missed a chance against Max Verstappen – but not the obvious one
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Charles Leclerc admits he missed a chance against Max Verstappen – but not the obvious one
Why Charles Leclerc failed to outbrake Max Verstappen in Turn 1 at Singapore GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Why Charles Leclerc failed to outbrake Max Verstappen in Turn 1 at Singapore GP
More from
Scuderia Ferrari
Charles Leclerc and Pecco Bagnaia: From kings to princes
MotoGP
MotoGP
Charles Leclerc and Pecco Bagnaia: From kings to princes
Sainz blasts "most unfair penalty ever", seeks stewards' explanation
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Sainz blasts "most unfair penalty ever", seeks stewards' explanation
Calado: "Difficult" for WEC Hypercar newcomers "to win straight off"
WEC
WEC
Calado: "Difficult" for WEC Hypercar newcomers "to win straight off"
Latest news
Catching Larson in the NASCAR Chase has to start at track where 'I suck'
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
29 min
Catching Larson in the NASCAR Chase has to start at track where 'I suck'
Verstappen charges from 24th to ninth as GetSpeed wins Portimao GTWC finale
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 1 h
Verstappen charges from 24th to ninth as GetSpeed wins Portimao GTWC finale
Colton Herta “maybe underestimated the difference” from IndyCar – F2 boss
FIA F2
F2 FIA F2 5 h
Colton Herta “maybe underestimated the difference” from IndyCar – F2 boss
WEC Barcelona: Genesis secures maiden series pole from Toyota
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
6 h
WEC Barcelona: Genesis secures maiden series pole from Toyota
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