Vettel: splitting Mercedes duo is “a great success”
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was delighted to qualify on the front row for the Bahrain Grand Prix, splitting Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg for the second time this year.
Photo by: Ferrari Media Center
Vettel, who won the Malaysian Grand Prix, was 0.411s down on Hamilton's pole time but over a tenth clear of Rosberg.
When asked if he was surprised at Hamilton's advantage, he replied: "Not really. We all know they have a very strong package. So in the end it's a great success for us to split them.
"Again, we seem to be a little bit closer, but then again everyone seems to be a little closer this weekend.
"Hopefully we can be another step closer tomorrow. So we'll see what we can do."
The heat is on again
Vettel won from P2 at Sepang, which was the last rear-limited track that F1 visited in warm-weather conditions, but refused to get carried away with talk of winning again tomorrow.
"Let's not forget it's race four, and we're very happy with where we are," he added. "Very happy with how competitive we are. We go step by step and will try to do our best race possible tomorrow. If that means we put some big pressure on them, why not?
"For sure, if there is a chance to fight one or both of them, we have to go for it."
Raikkonen disappointed with P4
Vettel's teammate Kimi Raikkonen was less happy with his performance, however, and believed he could have got more out of his Ferrari.
"It was OK," said Raikkonen of his lap. "But I could have pushed a bit harder probably, there was more grip than I expected, but we'll try and do the maximum tomorrow, get a good start and take it from there."
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