Vettel: 'Race will be decided over strategy and tyres'

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Sebastian Vettel qualified outside of the top-three for the Mexican Grand Prix but the Ferrari driver is counting on reliability and his team's strategy to keep himself in the mix for a race win.

Vettel will line up P4 on Sunday's grid after concluding his Saturday afternoon session jus 0.211s from surprise poleman Daniel Ricciardo.

The German reckons he put in a reasonably good effort in Q3, although he believed it wasn't a perfect lap.

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"It wasn't a very clean lap," he admitted. "I tried very hard and I knew that I had to find at least two tenths if I wanted to improve, it didn't happen, it was very close.

"It was not a bad lap but I had some snaps here and there, and it just didn't come together. Quite happy though, I think we got more or less everything out of the car.

"Obviously dropping back from fourth from second is not satisfying, but we'll see what we can do tomorrow."

While keeping himself in the mix for the championship may be a long shot given that Lewis Hamilton will only need to score a seventh-place finish in the race, Vettel believes he could gain an edge for an outright win if strategy and tyre management are well executed.

"We have good straight-line speed so maybe we can do something into Turn 1 and then go from there.

"I think we have probably the best reliability so far. With the Red Bulls, they're very fast, they will be hard to beat but maybe they beat themselves," joked the Scuderia driver.

"It's a long race, I think it will be decided over strategy and tyres, how confident you are at the end of the stints, how much you can push. We'll see what happens…"

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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.