Sebastian Vettel felt pole position could have been his at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on Saturday had he shown full commitment into turn one, with the time lost in turn one too much to overcome across the rest of the lap.
The Scuderia Ferrari driver lost out on top spot to Valtteri Bottas by just 0.038 seconds, but with better grip levels than he was expecting, he lost some time in that first turn, which ultimately allowed the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team racer to get ahead.
Despite this, Vettel feels Ferrari has made progress with its car this weekend, and with a positive feeling heading into the race, he is hopeful of getting ahead of Bottas and claiming his fifth win of the season.
“We have improved since Friday, and that’s the important thing,” said Vettel. “I was happy with my car today, but in my last run, I was perhaps a bit too shy in braking for the first corner.
“I had a better run at the end of my out-lap, so there was probably more grip than I expected there. In the last sector, I knew I could make up for some of the lost time, and I did, but it wasn’t enough.
“However, it was very close, and we’re usually even closer in race conditions, so my motivation is high for tomorrow and I’ll being aiming for a win.”
