Aston Martin car 'came alive' in final F1 qualifying session says Vettel

F1 News

19 November 2022 at 15:56
  • GPblog.com

Sebastian Vettel experienced his last qualifying session as a Formula 1 driver on Saturday. In it, the German managed to leave quite an impression, as a time of 1:24:961 was good for a P9 starting spot for Sunday's race. Speaking to Sky Sports afterwards, it brought a smile to his face.

With his Aston Martin, Vettel managed to surprise the spectators. Whereas Lance Stroll did not get beyond a 14th starting position in Sunday's race, Vettel cleverly managed to reach Q3 and set an excellent time in it, starting ahead of Daniel Ricciardo.

"I think it came alive," Vettel began his story. "At the end of Q1 and Q2 I felt really comfortable. I would have liked another set in Q3, but all in all it was a good session for us and we were able to qualify the car in a decent place."

The four-time world champion hasn't managed to feature in Q3 too often this season due to a lack of pace from Aston Martin, but has put himself in with a chance of climbing into the top 10 in the Drivers' Championship if he scored 13 points and Valtteri Bottas fails to register a point.

McLaren does good business in battle with Alpine

Fernando Alonso did not manage to get into the final session this weekend and must try to put in a good race from P11. It means a lead for McLaren, as Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo start from P7 and P10 respectively. The British are 19 points behind the French outfit in the Constructors' Championship.