28/04/2018
NEWS STORY
His first run in Q3 was good enough for Seb Vettel to take pole position for tomorrow's Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Kimi Raikkonen was on his way to what looked like being a sensational lap, but an off-line just before the long straight meant he had to settle for sixth. For Scuderia Ferrari this was its third consecutive pole of the season and the SF71H proved to be the car to beat on the six kilometre track and its combination of tight corners and flat-out sections.
Sebastian Vettel: "I am very happy for this result, but I am a little bit upset with my final lap because I locked up in turn 3. I knew the car was good and in the first two corners I was already one and a half tenth faster than the lap before. Then, maybe, I hit the bump the wrong way a little under braking and I locked up. In the end I made the corner, so I wasn't that late, but obviously after that, the grip wasn't the same. It's a shame because I think I could have been faster, but I am happy anyway.
"I am sorry for Kimi because we could have both been on the front row. However, we'll see tomorrow, It's going to be a long race. I think it is very important to be able to fight for the pole in order to have a good chance during the race. Even if the result has been good these last few Saturdays, there's still a lot of work for us. We know that the car can be faster. Obviously we have worked hard to get to where we are now, but everybody in the team knows there's more to do. We have to stay focused and keep pushing. However, I am not afraid for tomorrow and I believe we have good chances."
Kimi Raikkonen: "In Q3, on my last run I had a lot of speed and the feeling with the car was really good; I knew I had a very good lap going. Entering the last corner I took it very easily because over the weekend the wind has been quite tricky there. But for whatever reason I got a massive snap exiting the corner and went sideways. I was able to get the car back but the lap was gone. I'm pretty sure that without that mistake I would have been in a much better position. It's very painful and frustrating to mess it up in the last corner like that, I'm very disappointed. Unfortunately with the mistake we are not in a very good position for the race. Today it did not pay off, but tomorrow is another day and we'll do our best."
Check out our Saturday gallery from Baku, here.