Saturday: Vettel isn’t returning to Red Bull
Red Bull avoided another early elimination this Saturday and placed its two cars in the Top 5 on the grid. Enough to hope for a good result tomorrow and officially start the points tally.
Sebastian Vettel (No. 1) – 4th and 2nd
Second behind Lewis Hamilton, the four-time world champion truly believed that his session would end prematurely like in Australia: « My heart was beating very fast in Q1 when I was told there was a problem. We came in and restarted the car, which apparently fixed the issue, and after that, everything went well. I was able to get back on track. »
Even though the gap with the Mercedes is tiny, Vettel thinks he could have achieved a better time in Q3: « The Q3 wasn’t perfect. I would have liked to be able to do one last lap. In my first attempt I felt there was a way to gain some time. It was very close, maybe too close, and if you look at the gaps, it was possible to go faster but Lewis would have improved too if he had one more lap, so in the end it’s a good day and I’ll be on the good side of the track tomorrow. Everything will depend on the start but I’m happy with the result. »
Daniel Ricciardo (No. 3) – 6th and 5th
« When it rains here it doesn’t mess around and the weather was our biggest challenge today. Finding space on the track can be tricky and the visibility was so poor because of the spray, » explains the Australian driver who believes he could have done better in Q3: « I was a bit below par in Q3, so I need to try to understand why, but overall I think the Top 5 isn’t so bad considering the conditions. »
It is true that starting 5th is not so bad and then it’s not on Saturday that points are distributed: « I think we have a good chance in the rain. The Mercedes were really fast this morning on the dry, so it would be nice if it is like today tomorrow [to have rain]. »
