Vettel sees ‘good sign’ in closer gap to Mercedes

Sebastian Vettel sees Ferrari’s performance in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix as “a good sign” for the Scuderia going forward.

The four-time world champion set the fourth quickest time in Q3, finishing one spot behind team-mate Kimi Raikkonen and less than four tenths off Mercedes pole sitter Nico Rosberg. Vettel was also pleased to see Ferrari outpace Red Bull as the two teams squabble over second place in the Constructors’ championship.

“It’s been a very good day,” the German said. “The car felt good in qualifying, and it was very tight.

“It’s even more of a pleasure to put both cars ahead [of Red Bull] but I think it’s a combination of things. The car felt a lot better than last year. It’s a track where you obviously need a stronger car to go faster.

“The gap ahead also is a lot smaller for us compared to previous events. I think the stuff we brought here seems to work.

“It’s usually quite a challenging track looking at the downforce of the car and the handling. The fact that we’re in front of Red Bull and closer than in the last couple of races to Mercedes, is a good sign.”

Vettel will actually line up seventh on Sunday’s grid due to a three-place penalty for causing a collision at the start of last weekend’s Malaysian GP.

The 29-year-old admits Ferrari’s strong pace makes the sanction all the more frustrating but remains confident about his prospects for a race where has never finished outside the podium since 2009.

“It is what it is. We have to live with the penalty, we can’t change it. You never know whether that turns out to be costly or not, in this case yes.

“[Suzuka] is track where it’s difficult to pass but equally you can pass so we’ll see what we can do in terms of strategy, how the start goes, how the first lap goes, and go from there.

“All in all, we’ve been happy today and I think we can carry that momentum into the race. Nevertheless, it will be very close so we obviously have to nail our race from start to finish to keep our position in Kimi’s case and in my case make progress.”

QUALIFYING REPORT: Rosberg snatches dramatic pole by 0.013s at Suzuka 

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