Vettel "peaked too early" in Singapore qualifying

Sebastian Vettel reckons he “peaked too early” in the final qualifying session for the Singapore Grand Prix.

Despite being off the pace in Q1 and Q2, the German came flying out of the blocks in Q3 to post the fastest time ahead of the likes of Lewis Hamilton and team-mate Charles Leclerc.

He attempted to better his time with a final lap, only for a few shaky moments to make him decide to give up as there was no way he could make up the seconds.

Unfortunately for him, Leclerc and Hamilton got another opportunity, with the Monegasque driver taking pole.

In Vettel’s opinion, he should have saved his best for later on in the session.

“The final attempt should have been better. Overall, the car was making sense, I was feeling good,” he said after qualifying.

Leclerc beats Hamilton, Vettel to Singapore poleRead more

“I was able to improve run-by-run, so maybe I peaked too early. I had a tiny wabble, so no point finishing the lap as I was already too far behind.”

Looking ahead to tomorrow, Vettel thinks it’ll be interesting to see how teams cope with the length of the race and how it affects tyre management, with the Singapore GP set to hit two hours in length.

“It will certainly feel different tomorrow than it did today,” he added.

“Overall, it should be a good race, so lets see what the tyres will do - if we can push for the full two hours or have to manage.”

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Bizarre Aston Martin problem returns to give Adrian Newey more headaches despite updates

• 2 hours ago

F1 chiefs hold Hungarian Grand Prix track inspection after driver complaints over surface

• 3 hours ago

Max Verstappen 'lost Red Bull trust' claims Martin Brundle

• Yesterday 20:58

F1 News Today: Lewis Hamilton skips drivers meeting as F1 champion hit with penalty verdict

• Yesterday 20:11

Lewis Hamilton boost as FIA issue Kimi Antonelli penalty at Hungarian Grand Prix

• Yesterday 20:08

FIA announce Lewis Hamilton penalty at Hungarian Grand Prix

• Yesterday 19:11