Sebastian Vettel had no clarification to the large hole to Charles Leclerc in qualifying for the Portuguese Grand Prix apart from his Ferrari teammate acting on a special degree.
Whereas Leclerc certified fourth for Ferrari, Vettel might solely handle fifteenth on the grid for Sunday’s race. The four-time world champion has not superior to the ultimate qualifying session, which units the highest 10 locations on the grid, since August’s British Grand Prix.
When requested the rationale for the hole to Leclerc, Vettel mentioned: “In the intervening time it is past me. That is not simply beating, it is like one other class.
“I feel the laps I make which I’m content material with, are nonetheless too gradual. In the intervening time there’s nothing extra I can do, than simply getting every little thing out of myself and the automotive.”
Vettel, who’s leaving Ferrari to affix Racing Level subsequent season, mentioned he has not felt comfy with the automotive at any stage up to now this week.
“Not blissful in any respect. I wrestle to simply get issues collectively.
“It’s extremely tough to construct a rhythm when it is mainly completely different each time spherical, which is generally tire temperature associated and appears to make a giant distinction this weekend up to now. So we’ll see what we will do tomorrow.”
With regards to Sunday’s grand prix, Vettel gave a bleak evaluation of his possibilities, saying: “The issue is we’re caught in visitors tomorrow for the entire race, so it will be the identical because the final races.”
Leclerc backed his teammate to make amends on Sunday.
“We communicate slightly bit with Seb and from what I perceive, he is most likely not comfortable as a lot as I’m with the steadiness we’ve within the automotive,” Leclerc mentioned. “The rear is transferring fairly a bit and I simply really feel fairly good within the automotive for the time being. However I am positive that for tomorrow it will likely be lots higher than him.”
