Sebastian Vettel says Ferrari needs to improve on Saturday to pull clear of the likes of Force India and Red Bull at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
While Kimi Raikkonen was third quickest behind the two Mercedes drivers in FP1 he was three quarters of a second slower than Lewis Hamilton's best time. The second session saw Sergio Perez third quickest ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, with Vettel - who finished the session in fifth place - admitted it was an unexpected challenge from Force India.
“All in all it’s Friday so I think we can still improve and we have to improve," Vettel said. "We are a little too far behind, I would like the gap to be smaller and also the gap to be bigger compared to the cars behind. Force India is surprisingly quick and also the Red Bulls, there is a lot of work for us.
"[Mercedes] looked very quick as usual - unfortunately - but we will try our best. I think we can improve ourselves and then we will see where we are tomorrow.”
Vettel started FP2 by singing Happy Birthday in Italian to his race engineer Riccardo Adami over team radio, saying he had forgotten to wish him it in person on Friday.
“I sort of missed out this morning so I thought I had to come up with something special to make it up.
“I hope [it wasn't distracting], I think my first lap was not stellar! But I think it was OK and he was very happy, it’s a very special day so I think he will remember that.”
AS IT HAPPENED: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix FP2
Eric Silbermann's Abu Dhabi grumpy preview
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