Vettel expecting tough race with Bottas on Sunday

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Sebastian Vettel said that he was happy to have taken second place in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

However, the Ferrari driver said that he was expecting a hard fight with polesitter Valtteri Bottas when the lights went out on Sunday.

"Not quick enough!" Vettel said, after missing out on pole by just 0.042s. "But I was very happy. The car was really good last qualifying."

Vettel expected to have one last chance to clinch pole, but the session ended with yellow flags out in two different parts of the track.

One was for Red Bull's Max Verstappen going off at turn 7, while the other was for Romain Grosjean's Haas crawling to a halt in sector two.

"I was hoping for the last run. But then there was a bit of an anti-climax with the yellow flags," Vettel acknowledged.

Bottas pips Vettel to pole for Austrian Grand Prix

"Looking forward to tomorrow, should be a good race.

"It's a long race. A lot of things can happen. We have to look after ourselves, do our own race.

"It's going to be a tough race with Valtteri," he added. "He's been quick all weekend, also yesterday setting good pace, so we'll see. I think it should be a good race."

In last year's Austrian Grand Prix it was Vettel who was hit by a five-place penalty, meaning he started from ninth place on the grid. This time the show is on the other foot, with Vettel's title rival Lewis Hamilton hit with a penalty and starting from fourth place.

Vettel's last race in Austria ended prematurely when his right rear tyre exploded without warning midway through the afternoon. He also retired in the first Grand Prix held at the Red Bull Ring in 2014. That means his fourth place here two years ago remains his best performance at the venue.

Nevertheless, Vettel gave the circuit a big thumbs-up.

"It's a great track," he said. "It's a shame it's a bit short, but really enjoyable with a lot of high speed corners. And the car's been really phenomenal."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.