Sebastian Vettel believes he could have gone even quicker during the final qualifying session for the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix were it not for a locked brake on his final attempt.
Vettel scored a third pole-position in a row in Baku by edging out the Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport duo of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas. But Vettel says he is “a little bit upset” with his final effort.
“I am very happy for this result, but I am a little bit upset with my final lap because I locked up in turn 3.
“I knew the car was good and in the first two corners I was already one and a half tenth faster than the lap before. Then, maybe, I hit the bump the wrong way a little under braking and I locked up.
“In the end I made the corner, so I wasn’t that late, but obviously after that, the grip wasn’t the same. It’s a shame because I think I could have been faster, but I am happy anyway.”
The biggest challenge to Vettel’s pole looked briefly to come from his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, but the Finn made a mistake on his final attempt that left the 2007 world champion languishing in sixth.
“I am sorry for Kimi because we could have both been on the front row. However, we’ll see tomorrow, It’s going to be a long race,” said Vettel.
“I think it is very important to be able to fight for the pole in order to have a good chance during the race. Even if the result has been good these last few Saturdays, there’s still a lot of work for us.
“We know that the car can be faster. Obviously we have worked hard to get to where we are now, but everybody in the team knows there’s more to do. We have to stay focused and keep pushing. However, I am not afraid for tomorrow and I believe we have good chances”.
