Sebastian Vettel isn’t too worried about starting third on the grid for the Russian Grand Prix.
The German was pipped onto the front row by Lewis Hamilton at the end of Q3 but will now start directly behind his teammate Charles Leclerc for the long run to Turn 2 at the start.
Also with the advantage of having the soft tyre compared to the Briton on mediums, it is very likely the top three could enter the first braking zone very close indeed on Sunday.
“First you need a good start, then you worry about the rest. There is potentially an advantage if you’re in behind,” Vettel said post-session.
“But obviously I’m not entirely happy. I think I could’ve extracted the absolute maximum from the car. It was a disruptive Q1 but when we got to Q3 it was okay.
“The race will be decided tomorrow. The speed is there, so let’s keep it up.”
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Leclerc’s fourth pole in a row and sixth this season also extended his streak of out-qualifying Vettel to eight straight races, but the four-time champion is more worried about results in the races.
“I don’t think there’s any pattern standing out saying that he’s always faster in the same type of corners,” he claimed.
“As I said, obviously the last couple of races was closer than maybe it looked on the result, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow.
“Usually come race day I’m getting more and more confident in the car, and pace has never been a problem in the race.”