Vettel expects Mercedes to bounce back after Thursday practice

Sebastian Vettel doesn't think that Mercedes' practice pace is genuine and believes they will be back in full force on Saturday. Mercedes slumped to eighth and tenth in the second practice session after topping the timesheets in the morning.

Vettel's time in FP2 was over a second ahead of Lewis Hamilton, drawing concerns that the Silver Arrows are heavily struggling. When asked if he thinks he can get ahead of the Mercedes' on Saturday he said it's too early to tell. 

"Now is only Thursday, so we still have a bit of time. I don't know what happened to them [Mercedes] today, it was a bit weird, but I'm pretty sure there is a reason and they will be back to full force on Saturday.

"It will be close, also with the Red Bulls. Around here it's also important to have a good feel for the car, to get the lap together, so you cannot always go with the one time you set at the end of the day. But surely we managed to put it together and we're quite happy."

 

Fergal Walsh

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