Sebastian Vettel reckoned that he left enough time on the table to grab pole position from Mercedes at Singapore.
The reigning world champion’s best Q3 lap was only sufficient for fourth on the grid and was reported to have been frustrated on the team radio at the end of qualifying, implying he could’ve qualified further up the grid.
Pole ultimately went to Lewis Hamilton and Vettel, who ended up over a few tenths shy of Hamilton’s benchmark, believed that a few mistakes on his final qualifying run ruined his chances of getting his first pole since Brazil last year.
“I’m not happy with that final lap, I was pushing a bit too hard and didn’t get it all together, so I’m not entirely happy, but it is what it is now,” said Vettel, who fell short of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo 0nce again, but is optimistic over Red Bull’s long-run pace.
“I think pole could have been in our grasp. We’ll hope to have a good race tomorrow, with good pit stops and a good strategy and we’ll see what we can do from there.
“I think we have good speed, but everyone seems to have good speed here. It’s a long race, so we’ll see how the tyres work and what we can do.”
