Injured neck gave Vettel qualifying concerns

Editor

Sebastian Vettel said he “wasn’t sure” he would be able to compete in qualifying for the British Grand Prix after he injured his neck.

Vettel was only able to complete eight laps in FP3 on Saturday morning after sustaining the puzzling injury.

But, despite his concerns, he was fit enough to take part in qualifying after some medical treatment.

He was involved in an epic battle with Lewis Hamilton for pole position as the Brit pipped his title rival by 0.44 seconds.

But he is reasonably happy with his performance considering his less than ideal preparation.

“To be honest this morning no, I wasn’t sure if I could do qualifying,” Vettel admitted.

“It was not the most enjoyable session, but it’s fine.

“I don’t know what happened, but it was a bit stiff. We loosened it up. I’m not worried [for the race] because the speed will be less than qualy.

“I was pretty happy with the first run in Q3, I knew I had to give a bit more in sector three, which I think I got right on the second attempt, but I seemed to lose a little bit down the straights,” he analysed.

“I’m not sure why. I set two laps that were identical, half a tenth you can always argue you can find time somewhere, I think he was just a little better on the final runs.

“I’m confident we can be faster tomorrow, you’ve seen today were able to pick up pace and the race is usually a bit better for us.”

Reflecting further on the super close battle with Hamilton, Vettel has faith that Ferrari have the pace to challenge Mercedes on race day.

He added: “If it’s close and you come out at the right side then it’s great, but if you don’t, it’s not.

“We’ll see what happens tomorrow on Lap One but I think we have very good pace and I believe we can be faster.

“Obviously the race will depend on your speed and how you conserve these tyres but I think we had a good run in practice and have a good idea of what we need to do.”