Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was left surprised with his pace after the Virtual Safety Car period as he struggled in his first stint in F1 Azerbaijan GP.
The Azerbaijan GP was said to be Ferrari’s grand prix but as it has been the case in the other races so far in the 2019 F1 season, Mercedes registered its fourth consecutive 1-2 eventually as they not only led but also controlled the pace pretty much.
Vettel started on the same strategy as Mercedes while his teammate Charles Leclerc was put on the opposite after his qualifying shunt. The German made a decent start but lost quite a bit of time on his first stint as he couldn’t get up to speed on the soft compound.
He pitted first but there was no chance of an undercut as he couldn’t create the gap he would have liked to. Things turned around though as he started to claw back in the second stint on the mediums and post the VSC period, he came alive.
Post-race while speaking to the media, Vettel admitted to being surprised with the pace and grip which he did not have in the first stint. “The start was good but after first lap, I saw them a lot more confident than myself,” he said.
“I really struggled to find a rhythm in the first stint. It was getting difficult for us to put the tyres in the right window and it didn’t click, so I lost a quite of time and I thought that it looks like a very difficult afternoon.
“But as it turned out, the second stint was a lot stronger and we were able to stay with them [Mercedes], we weren’t really that much faster but we weren’t that much slower either, so that was positive.
“I was surprised with the pace because I thought, it would be difficult with Max so close behind and maybe a bit fortunate when hitting the blue flags, but it was mega after the VSC with no problems at all, with a good grip and I was one of the fastest, straightaway.
“Anyways, it is, for us, much more a conscious effort to get the tyres in the right window and then to perform, so I am not sure they understand why they are in the window, which is the same like for us as to why we are not, but we certainly need to work on it.”
Here’s how the Azerbaijan GP panned out
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Here’s Charles Leclerc on not pushing in second/third stint
Robert Kubica reveals he nearly crashed in Turn 2 at Azerbaijan GP start
Lewis Hamilton was cautious at start as he played a team game
Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll on Racing Point’s double points haul
Max Verstappen didn’t want to risk a move on Sergio Perez after he passed him