Vettel wasn't sure he could fight for pole

Sebastian Vettel celebrated his Russian GP pole like it was a victory. By achieving the new lap record during his last attempt in Q3, the driver of the Team Ferrari won its first qualifying session since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix, scoring the 47th pole of its career.

“We have had good testing sessions since the start of the weekend, recalled Sebastian Vettel, already the fastest during the last two practice sessions. The start of qualifying went well for me, but I lost the rhythm a little in Q2. I still had a little time to find during my first attempt in Q3 and I managed it by being faster in the last sector. THE Mercedes being behind us, I was told on the radio to attack because they were closing the gap. I was delighted to learn that I was finally on pole. The car was phenomenal this afternoon. »

A little surprise for Vettel

If Scuderia Ferrari has been faster than the Mercedes since the start of the weekend, the performances of the Silver Arrows in qualifying are usually so impressive that the German remained cautious about his chances of success.

“The team has done an incredible job of putting their two cars on the front row, although the main thing is still to come. It’s a great day because Mercedes has been very dominant in qualifying in recent years. I knew we could get a good result in qualifying, but I wasn't convinced I could fight for pole. This was confirmed throughout the qualifying sessions.”, added Sebastian Vettel.

Sebastian Vettel and teammate Kimi Räikkönen will now look to end Mercedes' unbeaten winning streak at Sochi since the inaugural event in 2014.

“Our performance should be very close to Mercedes in the race, but we showed good pace on the long runs during testing. We have made good progress since Bahrain. The rest is to come, but Ferrari is finally back in business”, warned Sebastian Vettel.