Sebastian Vettel has turned his focus onto making up as many positions as he can in Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix after an engine problem meant he was unable to participate in qualifying.
The German had to cruise back to the pits with what was believed to be an electrical problem in the closing minutes of Practice 3 earlier in the day, with Ferrari changing the Internal Combustion Engine in his power unit as a result.
Though it was hoped that would fix the issue, the problems continued as his turbo was heard giving up on his first lap out of the pits in Q1 with his mechanics unable to find a solution in the remaining time.
The result is a first back-of-the-grid start since Singapore last year and what is likely to be another major blow to his championship chances with main rival Lewis Hamilton starting on pole.
“It’s part of motor racing,” Vettel told Sky Sports describing his feelings after getting out the car. “I didn’t do anything today, this afternoon especially so it’s not something to feel that much about.
“For sure it’s not ideal, it’s not what you want, especially on a day when you feel you’ve got it in you, you’ve got it in the car. But unfortunately, we won’t be able to prove that.”
Given the pace his Ferrari has shown in practice, a fightback to at least sixth is likely in Sunday’s race at Sepang but the four-time world champion is remaining “open-minded” on his target.
“I expect we will get back to the leading group,” he claimed. “I don’t have an expectation in terms of a number but anything can happen. That’s why we go racing!
“I want to make sure we achieve our best. We need to extract the maximum. Knowing the race here, the conditions, anything can happen. I’m open-minded.”
Despite the disappointment, Vettel also praised the work of his crew to do what is often a three or four-hour job in just over two.
“We managed to do the change successfully in time. We thought we would be late but we made it, so the guys worked a miracle today, worked like crazy,” he said.
Ferrari could well now install a completely fresh engine for the race, as the P20 start would nullify any grid penalties for exceeding his allocation of four of each component in the power unit over the season.
