QUALIFYING REPORT
Vettel has been chasing the Silver
Arrows all weekend, and to split them on
the timing sheets will no doubt give the
Italian team a timely boost.
Vettel said afterwards, “My lap was
not quick enough but I am very happy.
I was hoping for a last run but it was an
anticlimax with the yellow flag. It is a great
track, shame it is a bit short.”
Hamilton was third quickest, but a five
place grid penalty for a gearbox changes
means he will start from eighth place on
Sunday.
Hamilton said afterwards,
“Congratulations to Valtteri, he did a
fantastic job and Sebastian has been very
quick. It just wasn’t meant to be. I’ll do the
best job I can. I want to get up there and
get a one-two with Valtteri.”
Interestingly the triple F1 World
Champion opted to run supersofts in Q3,
which means he will start with the red band
Pirelli tyres while his rivals around him
will have purple band ultrasofts bolted on
which should mix things up.
This was the first quali since the
collision between Hamilton and Vettel
during the race, apologies were made and
the pair faced the media during a press
conference on Friday.
Interestingly, after the session Hamilton
sought out Vettel to shake his hand as they
waited on the grid for their post-qualifying
television interviews, but refused to shake
it again when asked by the interviewer
Davide Valsecchi to do so again in front of
the TV cameras.