Vettel expects tough qualifying at Monza

Sebastian Vettel once again showed good performances at the end of the first free practice sessions at Monza. By achieving a time of 1'24"453, the Championship leader was more than six tenths behind his closest rivals, his direct opponent being his teammate Mark Webber ahead of the two Lotus by a hair. Romain Grosjean and Kimi Raikkonen. However, the three-time world champion is used to seeing the Mercedes de Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg surprise in qualifying after discreet practice, the Briton having won the last four qualifying sessions. “It will be very close, as we saw in the first session (where Lewis Hamilton set the best time). You can find yourself distracted if you focus too much on the second session. I think the gaps will be very small with a lot of cars grouped into a few tenths. »

If the pilot Red Bull showed himself at ease on the fast track of Monza, the German nevertheless hopes to make further progress with his car before the weekend begins. Sebastian Vettel has already shown very promising pace during long stints. “We will try to optimize the package. There are a couple of things to sort out regarding the settings for tomorrow. Even though the car is fantastic, there are still a couple of corners where I slide a little more than I would like. I'd be lying if I said today was a disaster. It's positive, but it's only Friday. »