Scuderia Ferrari German driver Sebastian Vettel is hopeful that the Maranello team will still be able to challenge Mercedes for victory at the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, despite a sizeable deficit in qualifying on Saturday. Mercedes locked out the front row of the grid at the Yas Marina Circuit, as Valtteri Bottas posted a new track record of 1:36.231, just under two-tenths clear of team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Behind the top two, there was a sizeable gap back to the rest of the field, with Sebastian Vettel emerging as Mercedes’ nearest challenger, over half a second slower than Bottas. Reflecting on qualifying, Scuderia Ferrari’s German driver said: “I think it was a good session. Obviously it’s a bit of a shame to be this far back [from pole position], but tomorrow with the race pace I think we can be very strong. Valtteri obviously had the better lap, so congratulations to him. It should be a fun race… overtaking is not always straightforward, but not impossible.”
His team-mate, Kimi Raikkonen, will start from fifth place on the grid thanks to a best lap of 1’36”985. Both Scuderia Ferrari drivers used just the Ultrasoft tyres over the three parts of the qualifying session. Tomorrow, the race starts at 17h00 (14h00 CET.)
2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Qualifying
1 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:36.231
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:36.403 0.172
3 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:36.777 0.546
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:36.959 0.728
5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:36.985 0.754
6 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:37.328 1.097
7 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:38.282 2.051
8 Sergio Perez Force India 1:38.374 2.143
9 Esteban Ocon Force India 1:38.397 2.166
10 Felipe Massa Williams 1:38.550 2.319
11 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:38.636 2.405
12 Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:38.725 2.494
13 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 1:38.808 2.577
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:39.298 3.067
15 Lance Stroll Williams 1:39.646 3.415
16 Romain Grosjean Haas 1:39.516 3.285
17 Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 1:39.724 3.493
18 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber 1:39.930 3.699
19 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:39.994 3.763
20 Brendon Hartley Toro Rosso 1:40.471 4.240
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