Sebastian Vettel did not expect such a gap with Mercedes

Since the start of the Bahrain weekend, the gaps at the head of the peloton remained quite tight, between Mercedes, Ferrari which has Red Bull, who came to interfere in the duel between the German team and its Italian rival in free practice, before somewhat regaining his position in qualifying.

Ahead of the two Mercedes by almost five tenths, Sebastian Vettel conceded defeat after this Saturday's session. If the four-time world champion highlighted certain progress compared to the sessions disrupted yesterday by technical problems in the Scuderia clan, he admits to having been surprised by the gap with the Silver Arrows.

“Overall, I'm very happy with how qualifying went, and how the car handled because we had some problems yesterday, comments Vettel.

There was nothing bad, but we simplified the balance for today, I think in the right direction, so I was happy with the development. I felt good: in Q2 I thought: “OK, it will be close”. I was satisfied to enter Q3.

Then I was very happy with my first ride. I crossed the line, looked up and saw the two Mercedes in front. When I had time, yes, I was a little disappointed to be honest because four tenths was a lot more than I expected, considering the quality of the lap.

The next round, I simply attacked too much everywhere, but I had nothing to lose. I was safe from the cars behind. »

Reversal of gaps in the race?

The German driver admits, however, that he does not yet have a clear answer on the difference between the Bahrain event and the two previous races in Melbourne and Shanghai, where the gap for pole was less significant between Ferrari and Mercedes.

« I didn't see clearly where we wasted most of the time, but I think a little everywhere, admits Vettel. I think sector 1 and sector 3 stood out, so sector 2 wasn't too bad.

There are more straights in sectors 1 and 3, so I don't know if they (Mercedes) had an evolution for here that allowed them to attack harder, but it seems we lost a bit of time everywhere and perhaps a little more than usual on the straights. »

The German driver admitted, however, that he expected Ferrari to be closer in racing conditions to Mercedes, a possibility already outlined by Lewis Hamilton after free practice yesterday on the Sakhir track, the Briton even mentioned a lead of two tenths for the SF70Hs.