It was not the happiest of afternoons in Imola for Sebastian Vettel. The German in his final season with Ferrari, was giving it his all and did well to go through to Q2.
But, the pace was lacking in his Ferrari SF1000 to make the final cut into Q3. That he has struggled with the handling of the car throughout the year, has only made matters worse.
Speaking after the race, Vettel said, “I was reasonably happy with my performance but didn’t make a difference. Still struggling to get out of Q2.”
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Sebastian Vettel felt his performance was reasonably better
“As I said, I was quite happy with the laps I put. The last one obviously, was a shame it got deleted, but I thought I’ll throw it into the chicane. Squeezing out a bit more, but it didn’t work.”
Seb after quali: "I was reasonably happy with my performance but didn't make a difference… I tried but, 13th, 14th, is not a big difference – still not so good".
Good to see that Seb was at least in a good mood 😄#ImolaGP 🇮🇹 #Vettel #SV5 pic.twitter.com/sHaEd5jWUo
— Sebastian Vettel #5 (@sebvettelnews) October 31, 2020
“Maybe not so much more. I tried but, 13th, 14th, is not a big difference – still not so good”. concluded Vettel in his comments.
Teammate Charles Leclerc was outstanding in his effort, and secured a P7. Relatively little more comfortable, the Monegasque driver will be right behind Albon and Ricciardo’s tails, to capitalize on their mistakes.
Tomorrow will be a tricky race for Ferrari. With both drivers starting on the Mediums, the idea will be for Vettel to control the midfield traffic a little bit. So that Leclerc can be clearer further ahead and reserve his best efforts to fight for P5.
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The narrative of disappointment continues for Vettel and Ferrari
In what will be their home race at Imola, the Scuderia will want to perform even better than they did in qualifying. And the least that they would be able to do, is deliver double points finishes.
But, the fact of the matter, is that Ferrari have massively underperformed in 2020. The car in general has been difficult machinery for both drivers to take to, and so have largely struggled.
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They continue to work on their upgrades development back in Maranello. However, whether they can jump above the midfield places consistently, is a question that remains to be answered ahead of 2021 season.