Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFerrari

Vettel confident in finding more speed for race day

Sebastian Vettel feels he could have bettered his P4 performance in qualifying today by one spot.

The Ferrari driver, who outpaced his team mate Kimi Raikkonen by almost 0.5s, was demoted to fourth by Williams' Bottas in Q3 as the pair endured another dominant charge by Mercedes' Silver Arrows.

"We could have done a little better but we were just not quick enough in the end," Vettel conceded.

"The lap was okay but perhaps not as good enough as it should have been. It was a bit tricky for us as we started off well but then struggled to make any big steps and improve. We need to have a look and see why this was, but we do have a good car and tomorrow we should have a good race."

As most of his colleagues, Vettel struggled with tyres temperatures around the challenging Sochi layout, a problem compounded by the lack of track time associated with yesterday's and today's curtailed practice sessions.

"We didn't get much laps especially with the red flag this morning, but probably enough to know a little bit, so we'll see and find out tomorrow."

" It wasn't a problem to actually switch the tyres on, we started qualifying on the right foot and were very competitive straight away with only one lap in Q1, but then the problem seemed to make progress from there. We need to see if this was down to tyres, but it didn't seem as if there was something fundamentally wrong."

Flanked by Bottas on tomorrow's grid, Vettel knows the run into the first corner may prove crucial as he'll seek to get the upper hand on the Williams driver as he did in Japan.

"I'm sure Valtteri will try to do a better start than in Suzuka," Vettel concluded.

"It's a long run from the line to the first corner and we know Williams and Valtteri are strong on this track. It'll be a good challenge tomorrow, the car feels good and as we didn't manage to get everything out of it, hopefully we have something left for tomorrow."

AS IT HAPPENED: Russian Grand Prix qualifying

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.