Breaking news
Formula 1 Australian GP
Vettel says balance issues held Ferrari back in practice
Sebastian Vettel has blamed imperfect balance for Ferrari's disappointing performance during Friday practice for the Formula 1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Mar 24, 2017, 11:48 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The German ended the afternoon session second fastest behind Lewis Hamilton, but was 0.547s slower despite Ferrari looking like a strong challenger to Mercedes during pre-season testing.
Vettel also said time lost to problems in the first free practice session played a part in Ferrari not getting up to speed, and insists the team will make progress on Saturday.
"The balance wasn't yet where I want it to be, so I think we can still do a decent step forward," said Vettel.
"This morning was not so good, we had some small issues that caught me out. But the team is doing well. I think we have a lot of things that we can improve.
"The balance is not so good yet, but I'm sure we can work on that overnight. We had some small troubles this morning that cost us some lap time, so it took a bit longer to get into the groove.
"The car still doesn't yet feel as good as it should and it can."
Vettel denied suggestions he had downplayed Ferrari's chances during pre-season testing and suggested there is more potential to be unlocked after a promising performance at Barcelona.
"People from outside make up their own opinion, no matter what you tell them," said Vettel.
"Obviously, we've been very happy in testing, the times looked good, but it doesn't mean anything.
"You come here and that's when it matters, we were realistic about that.
"Today was OK, the car feels good and it hasn't changed much, it was only two weeks ago that we got out of the car. We can still improve."
Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen said Ferrari did not have a clean run on Friday and shares his teammate's confidence that there is room for improvement.
"Nothing was as clean as we wanted and we have things to improve," said Raikkonen.
"We have to look at the big picture, this is the first day and everybody will go for tomorrow.
"It's hard to say from today where we're going to be against Mercedes, but we have to improve in a few areas and then we will see."
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 "in a league of his own" right now - Wolff
Next article Palmer says he "had no chance" in FP2 crash
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
Kimi Raikkonen
David Coulthard explains why Robin Raikkonen's rise resembles Max Verstappen's
Formula 1
Formula 1
Spanish GP
David Coulthard explains why Robin Raikkonen's rise resembles Max Verstappen's
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Formula 1
Formula 1
Italian GP
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Red Bull signs Kimi Raikkonen’s son as junior driver
Formula 1
Formula 1
Italian GP
Red Bull signs Kimi Raikkonen’s son as junior driver
More from
Ferrari
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
4 h
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
Fred Vasseur "not sure" if Red Bull is currently F1's best team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Fred Vasseur "not sure" if Red Bull is currently F1's best team
Latest news
Dale Jr. explains why he doesn't use 'Earnhardt' in his signature
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup 1 h
Dale Jr. explains why he doesn't use 'Earnhardt' in his signature
NASCAR to allow brake rotor and pad changes after Phoenix qualifying
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
1 h
NASCAR to allow brake rotor and pad changes after Phoenix qualifying
Why Christian Horner banned Mercedes' name as Red Bull built its own F1 engine
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
2 h
Why Christian Horner banned Mercedes' name as Red Bull built its own F1 engine
Laurent Mekies extends contract as Red Bull's F1 team boss
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
3 h
Laurent Mekies extends contract as Red Bull's F1 team boss
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