Sebastian Vettel insists he was part of the team decision to use intermediates at the start of Q3 in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.
As rain showers blew across Suzuka throughout the session, a heavier stint at the end of the second segment led to a tricky decision to be made for the start of the top 10 shootout.
With a stiff wind blowing, however, any moisture was quickly dried with the exception of on the kerbs, therefore, when the two Prancing Horse’s emerged on the green-striped wet tyre, Vettel instantly knew they had made a mistake.
“It does not matter who makes the choice of the tyres, we made the choice altogether,” he told reporters post-session.
? GREEN LIGHT ?
Q3 is GO!
and @ScuderiaFerrari are on inters ?#JapaneseGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/xtKA4DQVWY
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 6, 2018
“It was a wrong choice but at that time making laps with the intermediates seemed a risk to be taken. Had the rain arrived before, we would have been the heroes.
“These things happen.”
Once back on the Supersoft dry rubber, both Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen had a single lap before more rain arrived to challenge Lewis Hamilton for pole.
“It was not our day. I had a snap in Spoon which didn’t help but not our qualifying. I think the first run was OK,” he claimed.
“But I had a mistake so lost most of the time there but the second run we obviously didn’t make it out on time because the rain came.”
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The result is a ninth-place start for a race many believe he needs to win or at least out-score Hamilton at by a decent amount if he wants to stay in the championship fight.
“It’s not the position we deserve to be in. We have more speed than ninth but we start there and see how it goes,” he said.
“I think we made a step from yesterday but obviously we weren’t able to show it.
“Tomorrow is a new day,” he added, “It won’t be easy when you start further back but it’s not impossible.”