Vettel: Car damage in Q3 was nobody's fault

Sebastian Vettel has insisted that the damage caused to his car which ultimately cost him participation in Q3 for the Austrian Grand Prix was not the fault of anyone, and claims the Ferrari team did everything to get him out on the track.

While Charles Leclerc was impressive in the practices and then in qualifying, Vettel was always that little bit slower. He managed to make it to Q3, but didn’t even drive out of the garage as a flurry of engineers surrounded his car to drive and fix the issue before time ran out.

Although dejected at the resulting 10th place on the grid for tomorrow’s race, the German says nobody can be blamed.

“Well, obviously the car was broken, so we couldn't fire it up and go,” Vettel said after qualifying.

“We lost parts of Q2, and then Q3 completely. We fairly quickly made the decision to change, but it's not so easy. We obviously had to take the bodywork off. Not easy. “

Austrian Grand Prix: Starting grid with penalties appliedRead more

“The guys did everything they could, but we couldn't do it in time. Obviously, it is frustrating, but there's nothing you can do inside the car. It's nobody's fault. For sure, we need to understand what happened to make sure it doesn't happen again.

“We tried everything to fix it. I knew then if we fixed it, then, most likely there would be one run so I was trying to focus solely on that, but it didn't happen.”

Leclerc went on to claim pole position after setting a lap record, and although Vettel admits it is frustrating to see the car of his team-mate perform so well, he is glad it happened for the team.

“So, as painful as it is, it is good to see the other car come through and obviously it got pole,” he added.

“Happy for the team. Obviously not happy for my side of things.”

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