Sebastian Vettel rued a “costly mistake” after he qualified only ninth for the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Ferrari driver, taking part in his 150th grand prix, dominated the final race before the summer break in Hungary to claim his second victory of the campaign.
But Vettel faces an uphill task to maintain the pressure on Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, who secured yet another Mercedes front-row lockout of the season at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday.
VETTEL: “It was a normal lap… I’m surprised it was only good enough for 9th. We just couldn’t make the step” pic.twitter.com/jbzeC7dlCS
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 22, 2015
“It was disappointing considering I had a good feel throughout qualifying and the worst lap, or worst part for us, was the last one,” said Vettel, 42 points adrift of leader Hamilton in the championship.
“The lap was fine until the last corner where I went in too deep and had a very poor exit. I lost quite a lot of time.
“I had a brief look earlier and I lost two tenths – not enough to go P3 – but enough to go higher up than P9. It was a costly mistake on a day like that so I am not happy.”
Despite soaring temperatures at Spa this weekend, rain could play its part in Sunday’s race.
– #360LIVE: Follow the Belgian Grand Prix LIVE
– F1: Rosberg fastest in practice despite blowout
– F1 drivers: Who’s the quickest out the blocks?
– Mid-season Review: Two-horse race for crown
And Vettel hopes the inclement weather as well as the new starting procedure, which places greater emphasis on the driver than the pit wall, could help him battle back through the pack.
“Always”, he said when asked if a top-three finish was a realistic target.
“The last three days we have had surprisingly good weather which is not usual. Tomorrow it will be different there is some rain forecast but even without that we should have good pace and anything can happen.
“There is some potential for a chaotic start tomorrow, but let’s hope it is not that chaotic for us and more like Hungary. We want to try and make a move early on but then we have got the whole race to recover.”
