Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFerrari

Vettel feels pole was just out of reach

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Sebastian Vettel believes pole position was just out of reach for Ferrari on Saturday at the Mexican Grand Prix.

With Mercedes locking out the front row, Vettel was only 0.32s off pole position and failed to improve on his final flying lap. Having been a threat throughout the session, Vettel admits he does not feel he left much time on the table with his best lap.

Asked if he felt pole was within reach, Vettel replied: "Well now we've just finished qualifying no!

"We talk about another tenth maybe, I think it's always for us to say 'another tenth here or there, I could have squeezed a bit more' but I was reasonably happy with my lap and I think we were missing 0.4s at the end and the gap was probably too big.

"So we have to be fair. I must say congratulations to Nico for a very good qualifying and he put in a very strong lap."

And Vettel is hopeful Ferrari will be able to challenge Mercedes in the race based on its qualifying performance.

"I can't predict what's going to happen but usually we are always a bit stronger compared to them in the race. I think the tyres will be crucial tomorrow, the circuit is very slippery and I expect it to be slippery again. There might be some rain overnight so there might be a bit of a reset for the track."

After Hamilton and Rosberg said they didn't feel the need to speak before the start of the race after their light contact in Austin, Vettel joked: "So can you take both of you out so I can go through?

"Yes? ... No? ... I tried..."

REPORT: Rosberg beats Hamilton to Mexican GP pole

AS IT HAPPENED: Mexican Grand Prix - Qualifying

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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.