Sebastian Vettel described his Red Bull car as “phenomenal” after storming to his fourth consecutive pole at Suzuka. The world champion moved into third in the all-time pole position list with today’s success and hopes to convert it into a crucial victory tomorrow.
“It was good we got the time on the first run, with the yellow flags coming out later. We had a phenomenal balance in the car and I had the feeling we could go with the track today. We only needed one run in every session, which doesn’t happen all the time, but it’s very enjoyable around here when the car works how you wish, especially on low fuel and fresh tyres. It’s very special. Yesterday evening I wasn’t too happy as I was losing time in the first sector, but I found my mistake and in today’s practice session it worked straight away, I don’t know why I didn’t do it in previous years and it shows you never stop learning. Tomorrow will be interesting; it’s hard on tyres here, so we will need to work to stay where we are.”
Teammate Mark Webber will start alongside in second and admitted he simply didn’t have the pace to match Vettel this afternoon.
“That was a pretty solid session. We knew it was going to crank up in Q3, but I’ll tell you, this place on low fuel with new tyres is something else. I was pretty happy with my first attempt, apart from the hairpin, but Sebastian had that couple of tenths and I thought ‘fair play’, it was a competitive lap from him. Overall both of us were very competitive in qualifying and that puts in good stead for tomorrow. All the hard work from the factory is paying off. The main day though is tomorrow, that’s where the points are.”
