Sebastian Vettel has suggested Red Bull could be their own worst enemy in the battle for victory at the Mexican Grand Prix.
The German had to settle for fourth in qualifying at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez after being surpassed by eventual polesitter Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton after the final runs in Q3.
Maintaining the theme heard throughout the weekend, Vettel conceded his lap was far from his best but wasn’t too disappointed.
“It was not a very clean flying lap,” he reflected. “I knew I had to find at least two tenths and it didn’t happen. It was very close. It was not a bad lap but it just didn’t come together.
“I’m quite happy though, I think we got more or less everything out of the car.
“Obviously dropping back to fourth from second is not satisfying but we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
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What may work in Vettel’s favour in the race, however, is Ferrari’s immense straight-line speed compared to both Red Bull and Mercedes with a lack of overtaking opportunities in the sectors where they are stronger than the Scuderia.
Also, despite cooler temperatures on Saturday, engine issues have hit both of the Italian team’s rivals meaning just making the checkered flag will be a challenge.
“We’ll see what we can do into Turn 1 and then go from there,” Seb continued.
“I think we probably have the best reliability so far. The Red Bulls are very fast and hard to beat but maybe they will beat themselves.
“It’s a long race, I think it will be decided over strategy and tyres.”