Scuderia Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel admitted that the team was “just not quick enough” for pole at the Hungarian Grand Prix, following his and team-mate Kimi Räikkönen‘s third and fourth place results in qualifying.
Vettel had looked imperious in the first and second sessions, using the UltraSoft and Intermediate tyres to set the fastest times in the damp conditions. By the time the third session had started, however, the weather had changed considerably – the sky unleashing an onslaught of rain that meant drivers struggled even on the full wet tyre.
Whilst Ferrari had been strong on the Intermediate, the switch to the full wet didn’t seem to suit their car, and both Vettel and Räikkönen slipped down the order – Räikkönen to third and Vettel to fourth, over half a second behind pole sitter Lewis Hamilton.
The reason for this fall in form in the final qualifying session, said Vettel, was a lack of confidence in wet conditions – a revelation that comes a week after his wet-weather crash from the lead of the German Grand Prix.
“I don’t think it was an awful session overall, we were just not quick enough.
“Conditions were tricky and it was hard to squeeze everything out of the car, but I think my laps were generally fine. In wet conditions, we weren’t so confident as we had been in the dry, so we have some work to do.
“Today it was not a straightforward session, but I think we managed it well until the end. Obviously, we were missing a bit of something, but that’s how it is.”
Turning his attention away from qualifying and towards the race, Vettel said he thinks the team will “be fine“, and that their car is good regardless of the conditions.
“We’ll see what tomorrow brings: the start is important, but the race is 70 laps long and I think we’ll be fine. I’ll move off from the second row, so we’ll focus on what we need to do starting from there. However, we have a good car no matter the conditions, and that’s the main thing”.
