Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo believe they will have better race pace to attack the two Mercedes after claiming the second row for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Neither the Ferrari nor the Red Bull was a match for the Silver Arrows over a single lap with Valtteri Bottas’ pole time half a second clear of the German with the Australian producing an excellent final run to pip Kimi Raikkonen into fourth but still seven-tenths off the ultimate pace.
One of the key trends this season, however, has been for the top three teams to converge more closely over a race distance, with Mercedes not so able to use their high engine modes and both Ferrari and Red Bull often stronger on tyre performance.
“It was a good session, a bit of a shame to be that far back but tomorrow we will see,” Vettel began, reflecting on qualifying. “I think we can be a bit closer in race pace but they are very strong.
“Valtteri obviously had a mega lap so congrats to him. We will see, it should be a fun race. Overtaking is not always straightforward but not impossible here so let’s see.”
Vettel does have slightly more to play for with Bottas than Ricciardo, with the four-time world champion needing to finish higher than ninth to ensure second in the Drivers’ Championship.
For the Red Bull driver, however, there is nothing to lose as he goes in search of his first podium since Japan.
“It’s still an opportunity,” he said, despite a difficult weekend for the Milton Keynes outfit so far. “We’re close, all I need is a good start and we’re there. We’ll see once the race settles how we are.
On the likely race pace, the 28-year-old added: “We were still a few tenths off I think to Ferrari, Mercedes yesterday but a few changes overnight and I think the car will come to us.
“We’ll see. It hasn’t been, by my standards, it hasn’t been the perfect year of Saturdays in qualifying so it’s nice to finish the year with a good lap.”
