Formula 1 championship leader, Sebastian Vettel believes Mercedes have the upper hand at the Austrian Grand Prix after Lewis Hamilton led the way on Friday.
Moving on from the drama that followed the last race in Azerbaijan, the German driver ended the day just a tenth-and-a-half behind the Briton as he claimed second in the afternoon session.
Given the ease with which Hamilton was able to achieve his fastest times, the 30-year-old believes the characteristics of the Red Bull Ring could be distorting the picture.
“It looks close; it’s a short track so you’d imagine it will be close,” he said. “We’ll see. I think Mercedes is the favourite, they seem very quick no matter when they went out today. So, we’ll see what happens tomorrow.”
One thing Vettel is confident of, however, is that the large gap over the single lap seen at the last race will not be the norm going forward.
“Baku I think was a one-off in many ways,” he claimed. “Qualifying-wise it wasn’t good, positioning was not too bad but obviously the gap was too big but I think we just didn’t feel as confident and as comfortable as we should have but Sunday was okay. Generally, Sundays have been okay.”
What has changed the dynamic since second practice is the announcement of a five-place grid drop for Hamilton after Mercedes changed his gearbox out of sequence, that means it’s now very likely Vettel will start ahead on the grid on Sunday.
The Ferrari has his own technical concerns, however, after he was forced to change back to an old power unit in Baku.
Asked how his engine situation looked, he explained: “Well, that one I have now is not the one from Baku. It’s not new, but definitely less mileage.
“Obviously Friday is different, but it should be okay tomorrow. We don’t expect any trouble.”