Vettel hails "unbelievable" Ferrari pace

Sebastian Vettel has described Ferrari's pace in China as "unbelievable" after taking pole position for Sunday's Grand Prix. The German driver won the battle for the top spot, snatching the glory from teammate Kimi Raikkonen in the dying moments of the session.

Vettel has taken victory from the opening two races of the season and is in a prime position to take his third tomorrow. He admits that he is surprised with the size of the gap between Ferrari and Mercedes, as he was almost half a second ahead of the Silver Arrows.

"The car was unbelievable and it just got better," said the four-time world champion. "I was very happy with the settings I had from the beginning. We are surprised [by the gap to Mercedes]. The first three races have been a bit different, the tracks are quite different to each other but to have that much of a gap I think is a surprise."

The Shanghai International Circuit has been once of Mercedes' strongest circuits, with its pole streak dating back to 2011. Ferrari took its first Chinese pole in 14 years, putting a halt to Mercedes' impressive streak around the circuit.

"It has been a Mercedes track for the last six years so it's good to break their run," Vettel added. "It's good news. It shows that we have some potential in the car and then if we can unleash it and it's coming together, it feels good.

"If you find the sweet spot, where ever you are in the field it helps you to enhance your performance. That's probably what happened today, I don't know if the others struggled with their tyres today but for us it was pretty straight-forward."

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Driver profile

  • Team Aston Martin
  • Points 1,480
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  • Grand Prix 161
  • Country DE
  • Date of b. Jul 3 1987 (38)
  • Place of b. Heppenheim, DE
  • Weight 62 kg
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