Vettel insists nothing changed for Suzuka pole
F1 News
Sebastian Vettel took a stunning pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday but the German has insisted he didn't change anything to end Charles Leclerc's recent qualifying dominance.
Vettel's time of 1:27.064 was enough to top the timesheets and bring to an end Leclerc's run of four consecutive pole positions. The German was unable to convert his pole into a win though as he finished second at Suzuka holding off Lewis Hamilton but behind Valtteri Bottas.
Vettel's pole was a surprise given Mercedes' dominance earlier in the weekend but Ferrari man insisted nothing was changed.
"Not really, just a clean [qualifying] session," Vettel said as quoted by Motorsport.com.
"I don't think there was a particular problem. We've been improving the car since Singapore, the update has helped me in areas where maybe I struggled a bit before.
"Overall qualifying sessions on my side didn't go entirely smooth. Maybe that one just went quite smooth – both laps were clean, I had no issues preparing the lap.
"[There is] nothing that has changed. We didn't change the car for here. [There is] nothing that would explain the step in performance."