The Mercedes vs Ferrari battle took a different turn in F1 Azerbaijan GP with Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton fighting back as Sebastian Vettel was left thinking.
It looked like an easy Ferrari 1-2 at one stage especially after how they did in the two full practice sessions they ran with Charles Leclerc leading the charge from Vettel, while Mercedes duo of Bottas and Hamilton looking for answers.
But Mercedes admitted that on race pace the teams look quite close but it was the qualifying pace where Ferrari were comfortably ahead. In the end, it was all the game of who can set the time at given time, having hit the sweet spot with the tyres.
Mercedes did it so with Bottas scoring his second pole of 2019 as he beat Hamilton by 0.059s in a close fight, while Vettel was left alone in third after the crash for Leclerc in Q2, which the Monegasque took it very personal with all his remarks.
“I am disappointed with myself,” he said after calling himself ‘stupid’ on the radio. “Our pace was good all weekend and we expected to have a positive qualifying result. My first lap in Q2 was very good considering we were on mediums.
“But then I made a driving error on the second lap. I just didn’t do the job. The team and all the people supporting us out there deserved much more. Sunday is a new day. I will stay positive and push to do the best job possible in the race.”
Such was his openness that all three of his rivals understood the emotions and admitted that they would have probably done the same. In fact, the photo of Toto Wolff consoling Leclerc also went viral on Twitter after it was posted by Albert Fabrega.
https://twitter.com/F1/status/1122208791661961216
Like Bahrain, it looked like Leclerc may get his second pole of the season – although it would have depended on the tow factor, as the Monegasque looked strong since he has dominated at the Baku City Circuit in his Formula 2 days.
Leclerc’s crash meant Vettel did not get any tow while the feelings with the car also changed due to drop in temperature – it was perhaps the wrong time for Ferrari to give away the pace, as Mercedes took full advantage and even played a dummy on him.
When they were to go out for their final run in Q3, both the Mercedes mis-guided Vettel with a dummy start, which forced the German to go alone on track with no chance of a tow whatsoever. The exchange took place in the press conference.
While answering about the stop/start session, Vettel said: “I think well done to those two for keeping the rhythm. Especially with doing a practice start in Q3 – that’s usually quite a rhythm-breaker – they did well.”
To which Hamilton asked: “hmmm?” as Vettel responded: “Just on about your fake starts in Q3. Did you do a start or did you just stop?” and then Hamilton revealed: “We just dummied you basically.”
But Vettel still asked: “Well, did you do a start or did you just stop?” which brought in Bottas: “Kind of. Clutch calibration…” and Hamilton adding: “Definitely clutch calibration.” This exchange actually showed the confidence Mercedes has currently.
Even with all the pace Ferrari has shown, since Mercedes has been so used to run as a top player, it shows that they are in supreme control of all the given situations. The two drivers played the game well together with Bottas just managing to edge out Hamilton.
“Valtteri did an exceptional job,” said Hamilton. “It was a great result for us as a team. Coming into the weekend it didn’t look like we had the pace. The race pace looked good but the pace in qualifying we thought we might not be as close as we would like to the Ferraris.
“But we worked on the car and improved it. Unfortunately my first two corners were pretty shocking. I had a small moment in T1 and then in T2. So already by T4 I think I was three tenths down. I recovered that in the next two sectors but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”
Bottas added that he was able to get the tyres work eventually which he couldn’t in practice, something quite opposite to what happened with Vettel. “I think it’s been a trend that we are a bit faster in free practice compared to them,” he said.
“So I think it’s just down to doing things a bit differently but certainly I struggled a bit in qualifying. It wasn’t straightforward this evening. So, mostly I think with the track changing, going with the conditions was quite difficult.
“Only in the end I think it started to come back. The last two runs, and especially the last run, seemed to be a bit more straightforward in Q3. In the end I didn’t have a tow on my final lap, which cost some time in the last sector but it was quite trick.
“The conditions were changing because of the long qualifying session temperatures were dropping and I think it was even more important for me to feel the tyres and make sure they are there from the first corner.
“It’s trying to find that sweet spot. Certainly not happy from a team point of view because the pace looked really, really good in the practice sessions so far – yet we find ourselves behind those two again but I believe we have a better car with continuous laps.”
A lot of talk was put around Ferrari using the medium compound in Q2 but the German ruled out any issues with the grip which would have resulted in him brushing the wall and or Leclerc crashing out – he feels, it was just unfortunate things to happen.
Here’s all what happened in Azerbaijan GP qualifying