Scuderia Ferrari driver and current Formula 1 leader Sebastian Vettel was very close to finishing first on Saturday in the qualifying session ahead of the 2017 Spanish Grand Prix, but a mistake at the chicane on his final lap that saw him miss out on pole position by just half a tenth from Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel had been quickest of all in the second sector, but eventually locked his left front wheel slightly under entry to the final chicane and crossed the line just 0.051s slower than Lewis Hamilton’s pole position time.
Asked on the grid following the session if the mistake had been the difference between the two championship leaders, Seb admitted that it had been the case: “I’m afraid it was, yeah. We have been coming here a long time, we’ve done so many laps, but still the last chicane is a tricky one for me. First Q3 run, I wasn’t entirely happy. I knew there was more, so the second one was really good up to that final chicane. But it was very close to them, to Lewis.”- the German driver added.
Second place on the grid ahead of the race on Sunday should still be seen as a very good result for the Scuderia Ferrari German driver, given the fact that the Maranello team had to change the engine between final practice and qualifying for Vettel’ SF70Hs car. There was further drama for Ferrari after the team told Vettel to stop the car on his first outlap in Q1, but a driver default change appeared to solve the problem: “A big thank you to the team because we had to change the engine last minute and the car was just about finished. So today’s really for all the mechanics – also from Kimi’s car, who helped out, so grazie. They did an engine change sub two-hours. So if you ever see the car stripped, there’s a lot of bits and bobs that need to be disconnected, so it’s a miracle that they got me out. Would’ve been nice to get them the pole but hopefully we can do well tomorrow.” – Vettel concluded.
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