Vettel surprised, Räikkönen frustrated, Bottas eager for revenge: reactions from the Top 3 of qualifying in Bahrain

Ferrari managed to secure the front row of the Bahrain Grand Prix by placing Sebastian Vettel in pole position, just ahead of his teammate Kimi Räikkönen. The Finn seemed faster than the German, but the latter managed a perfect last fast lap to claim his 51st pole position.

« I didn’t get much running this afternoon [editor’s note: yesterday, in FP3], so it was a bit difficult to know what to expect, but I felt very good from the start and I knew I could improve throughout the session. In Q3, that’s when I wanted to peak, and I think I reached a high point on the first fast lap, just before the last corner. I wanted a little too much. So, I knew I could do it and yes, basically, my last fast lap was a bit copy/paste from the previous lap, but in the last corner I managed to stay away from the curbs, so yes, I’m very happy with both laps and obviously happy with the result, with the car, the way the car responded. » explained Vettel in the press conference.

However, after Melbourne and his lucky victory, the four-time world champion did not expect to be celebrating like this in Sakhir: “I think it’s surprising for us to be, after Australia, so competitive. So, obviously, we have, I think, a good base. The car was working in Australia, but we struggled with the feeling of the car. Here, it’s been better, so we’ve improved a bit by working on the car. The start of the season is always difficult because you don’t know the car very well yet. It’s getting better and better, so obviously today was quite nice, and the car’s performance is coming to life,” concluded the German.

POLE number 214 for the Scuderia!!#Seb5 sets a super 1:27.958, #Kimi7 P2 GREAT JOB to all the team! #BahrainGP #Quali #ForzaFerrari pic.twitter.com/6TN46xm5n3

— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) 7 avril 2018

His teammate Räikkönen, always ahead of him during the previous sessions, failed to rise to the occasion at the most important moment and therefore finds himself in second position. A frustrating result for the Finn: « It’s far from ideal with the traffic on the last run. I thought there were a lot of things to improve, but obviously, it was really messy at the end, I was crossing paths with other drivers and doing this and that, so it’s disappointing because it was good for most of the weekend. You always want one more, but we’ll see tomorrow. » commented Iceman.

Only Mercedes survivor after the penalty suffered by Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas will start third. The Finn still beat his teammate fair and square and keeps a spirit of revenge after his failed weekend in Melbourne: « First of all, it’s disappointing not to be on the front row. Ferrari was faster today, but yes, we made good progress during the weekend, we tried things that didn’t work, that’s why the gap was sometimes bigger. So, I think we have the right setup in the car for the race. It’s difficult to really estimate our race pace. I think it will be another long race so anything can happen. I hope Lewis can also come back to get good points, and I hope we can put pressure on these guys. » concluded Bottas.