Vettel Confident Despite ‘Dull Day of Work’

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief

Sebastian Vettel is confident that Ferrari has not shown its true pace after an unspectacular showing in Friday’s opening practice sessions for the Australian Grand Prix.

As it stands, Lewis Hamilton swept the two sessions for Mercedes, with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen pulling to within 0.127 of a second behind after a strong showing in the afternoon. However, it was Kimi Raikkonen leading the way for Ferrari, who paced fourth best at 0.283 of a second behind the leader, with Vettel posting fifth but over half a second off the mark set by Hamilton.

Even still, Vettel, who won the event at Albert Park last season, remains even-keeled about the Italian team’s chances to start the season out strong after completing a combined 62 laps between the two sessions.

“It’s been a rather dull day of work, like every Friday,” said Vettel, the four-time F1 champion.

“We tried to chase the balance because I didn’t feel completely comfortable at first, but I’m not worried about that because I know that if we do everything right, the car should be in better shape.

“It looks like we are close, which is good news, so we should be able to do something tomorrow. This track is particularly tricky, in that if you don’t nail it at first, then there is quite of bit of lap time to be found, and I think we still have much potential to extract. The car is fine; it’s not where we want it to be yet, but if we keep on working, it should be ok.

“I really hope to make a bigger step than the others.”

About Joey Barnes 600 Articles
Joey Barnes is the Founder of Motorsports Tribune, an outlet that began with the goal of helping aspiring journalists break into and grow the industry. A regular on the racing scene since 2013, the journey for Joey started by covering a Grand-Am event at Circuit of The Americas in his home state of Texas. He has since primarily focused on the IndyCar Series, with appearances in the garages of NASCAR, paddocks of Formula 1, IMSA and World Endurance Championship, while also occasionally engulfing clouds of dust at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals and select Supercross rounds. With previous stops at Autoweek, IndyCar.com, Motorsport.com and RACER, among others, Joey evolved from the singular task as a freelance writer to advanced roles behind the copy desk and alongside some of the best editorial teams in the business. Recognized as a multi-time award winner by the National Motorsports Press Association, Joey currently resides in Dallas-Fort Worth with his trusty four-legged canine companion, Rocket.