Mercedes did nothing 'special' in qualifying - Vettel

Sebastian Vettel suggested Mercedes did not deploy anything "special" during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix, despite Lewis Hamilton clinching pole position by over six tenths of a second from his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, breaking the Albert Park lap record for good measure.

Hamilton scorched a record that Vettel had set in Q2 by around eight tenths to secure his seventh pole in Australia - another new benchmark.

Although Hamilton was so dominant on Saturday, he dismissed the notion of Mercedes deploying an extra power in the engine - having dubbed the power unit's possession of a "party mode" earlier in the week.

But Vettel did not think that Hamilton's pole margin was so wide due to any extra tricks in the Mercedes, instead praising his rival, who could not convert pole into victory as Vettel jumped him under Safety-Car conditions from pit lane.

"Mercedes didn't do anything special – not more than they did last year, probably even a bit less by the looks of it," Vettel said.

"I think they did turn it up for Q3 but not by seven tenths.

"Probably if you look at qualifying carefully, it's fair to say they were quick in Q1, quicker than us, Lewis was quick in Q2 and then his second run, I don't know, something happened.

"So, his last run in Q3 was the only proper run at the end, and he had a clean run, and I don't think the gain that he had in time was down to engine.

"Probably a tenth, a little bit more, but not seven tenths. So, the credit is for his lap that he did and not for the engine power."

There appeared to be a little tension between Hamilton and Vettel at the press conference after qualifying when the champion said he had been "waiting to wipe the smile off" the Ferrari man's face.

But Vettel was not reading too much into the comments, and says they did not give him any extra satisfaction after the win.

"Not really. He said he was joking and I believe him," Vettel said.

"I don't think we need to go on that sort of level. It's fine as long as we joke with each other and apart from a point last year, we don't have a problem with each other.

"Even if we are very different persons, I think we share – all of us – a common passion and that makes us quite equal again.

"We love racing and we try to do our best, once we're in the car and beat all the others. In that regard, I don't see why we shouldn't get on with each other."