Vettel only third in qualifying as Mercedes seal surprise front-row lockout; Sunday's race starts at 1.10pm, live on Sky Sports F1
Sunday 28 April 2019 13:22, UK
Sebastian Vettel hopes Ferrari can make Mercedes crack under pressure in the Azerbaijan GP after a tough qualifying session.
Ferrari had looked favourites for a front-row lockout after dominating practice, but instead Valtteri Bottas took pole and Lewis Hamilton second, with Vettel only third after Charles Leclerc crashed out in Q2.
However, only once has a pole sitter in Baku finished on the podium - Nico Rosberg when he won in 2016 - and Vettel believes Ferrari can bounce back on race day.
"As a team we can recover tomorrow, hopefully we can put a lot of pressure on Mercedes and make them crack," Vettel told Sky F1.
"It's a long race, anything can happen. Even if you start way back you can be in a good position to hunt for points."
Vettel was the first of the leading drivers to set a time on the second runs in Q3 and, unable to benefit from a tow down Baku's long straight, finished three tenths off Bottas' pole time.
The German also struggled with tyre warm-up as Q3 started nearly an hour late after long delays following crashes from Leclerc and Robert Kubica at Turn Eight.
And he feels Ferrari's upgraded SF90 is still playing catch-up to Mercedes' W10.
"I think it's been a trend that we have been faster in free practice to them, I think it's down to doing things a bit differently," he said.
"I think there is a pattern emerging. I think we were in a lot better place here considering that the corners are fairly low speed, we were much more competitive, but we are not yet there otherwise the picture would be different.
"Obviously it's a shame that we lost one car, especially as he was very quick this weekend, now we look forward to the race and I'm sure we can recover."
Hamilton: Two errors cost an unexpected pole
Hamilton had been on provisional pole after the first flying laps in Q3, leading Vettel by nearly half a second and then Verstappen's Red Bull - which ran out of sync to the other runners.
But he lost out to his Mercedes team-mate Bottas after a scruffy start to his final flying run, as Bottas put together three personal best sectors to snatch pole by just 0.059 seconds.
However, having expected to be behind the two Ferraris ahead of qualifying, Hamilton was content to just take a front-row grid spot.
"Honestly I did not think I would be on the front row today. I'm always hopeful but the Ferraris were showing pace we couldn't really truly match," he told Sky F1.
"I don't know what happened to Seb, I think he didn't get a tow which was where he was missing out as that's worth four or five tenths.
"We'll definitely take it, should have been on pole but Valtteri did a great job.
"I fluffed Turn One and Two, I came out of Turn Two three tenths down to my previous lap. I don't know if my tyres weren't warm enough…all the guys were backing up and I was one of the last cars.
"I got to Turn One, had a bit of an oversteer moment and had to lift and I was down, got to Turn Two and had the same thing, came out of it and I was like 'should I stop?'.
I kept pushing and I regained the time and I came across the line a tenth up but was half a tenth down [on Valtteri] so with three tenths I would've been. But it doesn't matter - would've, should've, could've."
Bottas starts on pole for the second consecutive race and will be aiming to do what he failed to in China and keep his team-mate behind him at the start.
"The Ferrari is a good, quick car and Lewis is quick as well," he said.
"I'm going to try and focus on myself and if I perform at my very best I believe that is going to be enough.
Watch the Azerbaijan GP live on Sky Sports F1. Sky Sports is the home of live and exclusive F1. Find out more here to watch the 2019 season live
