Sebastian Vettel says he’s happy enough with second place on the grid in Germany, despite being eased out by Lewis Hamilton at his home race.
Vettel was briefly fastest after his second run in qualifying, but Hamilton went quicker right at the end.
“I think it was quite close,” said Vettel. “I think I tried everything I had; the car felt fine. I think we were struggling a little bit this afternoon in the first sector, losing a little bit of time there and then trying to catch up. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, but it looks like we are much closer to them here than we were in Silverstone.
“So, I think we’ve made some progress and have all confidence for tomorrow. We had a good run yesterday, looking at the race. I think we did our homework, and now obviously it’s up to us. We put the car in the first row. It wasn’t quite enough for pole position, but we should have a good race from there. I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow.”
Vettel admitted things hadn’t quite gone right for him Saturday.
“I was very happy in FP3 this morning,” he said. “I was very happy with the car, so we didn’t change much. And this afternoon, I was struggling to bring it together, especially in the first part of the track. It was quite windy, we had wind from the back and the track was a little bit warmed.
“Still, the car wasn’t bad; it wasn’t awful through the first sector. So, I was pretty happy but the time didn’t come. And I tried to do the best I could in the next two sectors, but it wasn’t enough to get Lewis today.”
