Sebastian Vettel put in one of his best qualifying performances of the season on Saturday, and thanked the many cheering fans at Suzuka International Racing Course as he heads into his final Japanese Grand Prix before retirement.
While Vettel insisted that he isn't having second thoughts about leaving Formula 1 at the end of the season, he confessed to one or two regrets faced with the reality of never racing in an F1 car here again.
"It’s more laps that like this make me - not regret [retiring], because I look forward to what’s coming." he told Sky Sports F1 after the end of the session.
"At the same time, I am a bit sad because it is the last time I will ever tackle this track in qualifying trim.
“I love this place. I love this track. You just feel more alive. When you’re battling with the car and then yourself up that first sector, it’s just a big smile every time," he said. "Laps like these make me feel sad about leaving F1.”
Vettel successfully made it through to the final top ten shoot-out and secured P9 on the grid for tomorrow's race, his best qualifying performance of the season with Aston Martin.
As he headed back to pit lane, Vettel said over the team radio: "Good session. Oh, I really enjoyed it. He added that "This track is just so much better than all the other ones.
"Arigato gozaimasu Suzuka, thank you. I will miss this place. But we've got the race tomorrow!"
Later, he explained why today had been so special to him. “Saturday here is different to Sunday because Sunday you have more fuel in the car, it’s more managing and different discipline in a way.
“Saturday is really when you’re flying. We’re far away from P1, but still the feeling in the car is something special when the fuel is light and the tyres are fresh.
"If you don’t look on the scoreboard where we ended up, I think the feeling is pretty much the same in terms of how happy I was with the laps that I had today and the final one again."
A double points finish for Vettel and his team mate Lance Stroll at Singapore moved Aston Martin into seventh place in the constructors championship ahead of Haas with five races remaining, including Japan.
The team hopes to keep that advantage even if the rain returns on Sunday. "On paper, this is probably not the best track for us," Vettel admitted.
"Tomorrow will be crucial to look after tyres, but we might have rain as well so we’ll see,” he said. “We also have quite a big rear wing on, so maybe it helps, but we’ll see what happens.
"I don't mind if it rains tomorrow – I cannot influence the weather! – but I think wet conditions would probably be a bit better for us.
"We had a good day today so why not again tomorrow," he concluded. "We have nothing to lose. Obviously, it’s tight in the championship, constructors’ and we want to score some points."
However, Vettel's team mate Lance Stroll failed to make it out of the first round and will start the race from 19th place on the grid.
“Unfortunately, I locked up in the hairpin at turn 11 and lost three-tenths, and that was the difference between us making it out of Q1 today," he explained.
"However, the car was good to drive, and it was great fun out there driving Suzuka in the dry once again," he added. “It’s not ideal to be starting from 19th, but tomorrow is a new day and we will see what we can do in the race.
"If the weather does turn wet again as it did on Friday, it will provide some good opportunities for us to move up the order.”
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