The German set a fastest lap time of 1:43.966 to qualify in fourth, the exact same time as the Red Bull Racing of Daniel Ricciardo.
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Perez’s grid penalty means Vettel will start right behind Rosberg in third.
“We got to know the track, that was quite interesting and was the main objective for today”.
Despite urging for early wins this year as well as the title, Ferrari’s new president has seen the opening seven grands prix go past without victory for the Maranello team. Ferrari started the weekend massively off the pace of Mercedes and Vettel thinks second position was the best it could have hoped for.
“Second place in a row, two times now on the podium in the row after Canada which is great, scoring some good points, although this weekend was a bit different to last week but still I think the pace is there, the vehicle is good”.
“We have a strong engine, we’ve made very good progress on that front”, said Vettel when asked if engine power was a factor in the gap given Baku’s long straight. “However, we came back today, although not yet where we want to be”.
“Of course we benefitted a little bit from the mistake that Lewis did yesterday because both Mercedes are very, very quick throughout the weekend but I’m very happy, very proud”.
“We had a decent day, we did a lot of laps”, he said.
“It’s going to be a long race, yes the start will be important, it always is important but it will be more important to finish the race and I think it will be a hard one”.
“It makes a big difference in laptime”.
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“We can be stronger, there’s things we have to learn, but I haven’t seen a victor yet that has learned all the lessons in life”. It’s going to be a long race. But Vettel is expecting a tough race due to the difficulties of driving the new Baku circuit. “After the weekend we will try to understand where we were losing time, but for the moment let’s focus on the race, because we have all the chances to do a good job”. There’s reasons for that, as I said – if you look at the car’s performance, etc. which will help you or not, but I think what really makes you a victor is not just the fact if you have a auto that’s quick enough, it’s the people that operate the vehicle ultimately.
