Ferrari failed to
deliver on their pre-season testing promise during qualifying for the
season-opening Australian Grand Prix, with Sebastian Vettel and new team mate
Charles Leclerc forced to settle for third and fifth on the grid respectively
as Mercedes dominantly locked out the front row. Not ideal. But Vettel is
feeling optimistic…
Vettel and Ferrari
played a blinder with strategy last year in Melbourne to stun the Silver Arrows
and steal victory for the second successive year. And it’s those impressive
performances that give Vettel hope he can reach the top step again, despite the
Scuderia's deifict in qualifying.
“Of course, I think we
can [win],” he said. “You never know what’s happening. Last year we got a bit
lucky but the race is over when there’s the chequered flag. I think we have a
good car, we have a good race car and we are in good form.
“Obviously Mercedes are
the clear favourites after the result today and the pace they have shown so
far. But we are here to race. Otherwise it would be quite dull. I
think all the people would agree.
“We’ll see what happens
tomorrow. Tomorrow is a new day. We’ve done it before, around here especially,
so, we’ll see. Our starts are pretty handy, so we’ll see. Our starts are pretty handy, so we’ll go
from there.
“I think a little bit
of everything,” said Vettel, who admitted on Friday he hadn't found the groove.
“I don’t think the straight-line [speed] is a problem so I think we are quite
competitive down the straights but I think we’re just losing in the corners.
There are 16 corners around here and I think it’s a fairly even spread and so
far it was more in the medium and lower speed stuff rather than the high speed
stuff [where we struggled].
“I haven’t got the
balance yet which maybe I would like to have, especially in lower speed, and
not the confidence and trust which again, around here, can make a big
difference because it’s a bumpy track and I hope they don’t resurface it
because it’s part of the character of this track.”
Vettel won last year’s
race from third on the grid, where he starts this year, and will take heart
from the fact the pole-sitter has only won one of the last seven races in
Melbourne.