Vettel: Leclerc deserved Bahrain pole

Sebastian Vettel believes that Charles Leclerc was the best performer during qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday, and that his new team-mate deserved to claim the first pole position of his career after recording the fastest lap in Q3.

After the disappointment of Australia in which both drivers failed to make the podium, the spotlight was on Ferrari to improve in the second race of the season. Throughout practice they impressed with their speed, and carried that over into qualifying as Leclerc set the track record to earn pole.

Leclerc happy to be ahead of VettelRead more

Leclerc is believed to be Ferrari’s secondary driver behind Vettel, but the German was forced to settle for second after having to use new tyres, something which he admits compromised his chances.

“Oh, of course,” he told Sky Sports when asked if the tyre change played a part in his time.

“First of all, you have to make it to the end. Yeah, maybe I was a bit shy in the second sector but, in the end, I think Charles did a very good job today and he deserves to be on pole.

“Happy with the one round that I had to get second, it puts us in a good place for tomorrow.”

The pace shown by Ferrari was much more like the kind they showed in testing in Barcelona before falling flat in Melbourne, and Vettel is happy the team could get back on track in the next race.

“As I said that's the main thing,” he said of the Ferrari dominance on the day.

“The main thing is we got the job done. This weekend. The car felt a lot better and it's only getting better so hopefully we can carry that over to the race tomorrow.”

Vettel will start on the front row with Leclerc on Sunday in a race which he has won more than any other driver in history.

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