It was odd for championship leader Sebastian Vettel to do only eight laps in the final practice session of the 2018 Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, but it was revealed post session about the German facing an issue with his neck.
Prior to the start of qualifying, Vettel was seen with a tape around the left side of his neck as he walked into the Ferrari garage to initiate the fight for pole in Lewis Hamilton’s (Mercedes) home ground.
The German topped Q1 on an alternate strategy while was second in Q2 to Hamilton. He took provisional pole in Q3, but his laptime was bettered by Hamilton with the British driver going 0.044s faster to take his sixth pole at Silverstone.
The Ferrari driver just missed on to secure pole, but has the front-row to tackle Hamilton in the race. However, his neck could pose some tough questions during the race distance, but Vettel thinks it won’t be a huge issue considering the slower speeds they will run.
“It wasn’t the most enjoyable session [qualifying] but it’s not…nothing,” he started. “I did the session, so I was fine. We had to call it a bit earlier this morning that I wanted but it was fine in qualifying.
“I don’t know what happened but it went a little bit stiff. We loosened it up and for tomorrow I think the night will help. I’m not worried. Also, the speed tomorrow is less than in quali, because you have more fuel and you’ll be a bit slower so it’s going to be OK.”
For the race on Sunday, Vettel is quietly confident of doing well considering Ferrari’s improvements, which usually is highest on Sunday from Friday. “It was a good Friday for us and I’m confident we can be faster tomorrow,” he said.
“Usually…we see today that we are able to pick up pace on Sunday as well. The race has always been better for us the last couple of races so I’m confident with everything that we have here this year, it seems we are stronger and I believe we can be faster.”
Coming back to qualifying, it was only marginal for the Top 3 drivers separated by just the 0.098s in the end. In fact, Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen had a purple Sector 1 and Sector 3 but he lost some time in Sector 2 which eventually meant he was only third.
“I think we had first and last sector but in the middle obviously I think I had a small moment on the first try, the first set, into Turn 7, so I took it a bit easier [on the second run],” said Raikkonen.
“I was still gaining but I’m sure there were places to gain a tenth easily but obviously it didn’t happen today, so this is what we got. It was close but third is not too bad.” Vettel, meanwhile, said he lost some time on the straights which might be the reason for the gap.
“It’s so little time, it’s practically the same lap,” he started. “I was pretty happy with the first run in Q3 and I knew had a little bit more in Sector 3, and bits around the track, which I think I got right on the second attempt.
“But I seemed to lose a little bit down the straights, I’m not sure why. But more or less I had two laps that were identical. Half a tenth you can always argue you find somewhere. I think he [Hamilton] was just a little bit better in the final run.”
