Sebastian Vettel felt pole position was definitely up for grabs around the streets of Monaco on Saturday, but admitted that if anyone else was to take it, he was happy that it was his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen who did.
Just 0.043 seconds separated the team-mates but it was advantage Raikkonen, with Vettel feeling he could have done better on his laps, and could and should have secured his second pole position of the season, having done so previously at the Russian Grand Prix.
Vettel is now looking to turn the result around on Sunday in order to extend his championship lead, although his main rival Lewis Hamilton starts down in thirteenth position after the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team racer endured a difficult qualifying session.
“I am not happy with myself because pole position was up for grabs, but it’s great for the team,” admitted Vettel. “If I had to give up pole position and hand it to someone, I would choose Kimi.
“I am happy for him. He did a very good job in qualifying. As I said, it’s been fantastic for the team, but I am not totally happy with my performance today. I should have done a better job overall.
“The car was good, so it was my mistake. I was a bit too greedy in my last run. Now it is impossible to make predictions for tomorrow, all we have to think about is the start, the pace, the strategy, and then try to put everything together. So, we are going to prepare for the race as usual.”