Sebastian Vettel was happy to see Ferrari back on terms with Mercedes pace-wise after a strong battle in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix.
The German finished just 0.061s behind polesitter Lewis Hamilton as a raft of upgrades, albeit not all that were initially tested, proved effective in addressing the Scuderia’s recent weakness over a single lap.
Though Vettel will ultimately drop back to fifth after his controversial practice penalty, the performance of his Prancing Horse did create some satisfaction.
“It was pretty close, obviously,” he said. “[It is] always a bit of a shame when you miss out on that little time.
“I think six-hundredths, you can always debate that you had them somewhere in you, but I was pretty happy with the laps I had.”
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Vettel was particularly sure there was still pace to be found given the cars aren’t as finely tuned as usual and track conditions were still difficult following Friday’s rain.
“I think it was quite tricky to get everything together,” the Ferrari driver stated. “Obviously it has been dry today and better for us but the wind was quite tricky at times but it is the same for everyone.
“But yeah, pretty happy given the last couple of weeks that we have had. Pretty happy be back in range [of Mercedes], I think today has been surprisingly close.
“I don’t think we expected it to be that close so that is good.”
The pressure is now on Vettel to come back through from fifth on the grid as he needs a second place finish at worst to keep the championship battle against Hamilton going to Mexico in a week’s time.