Vettel reveals low battery cost Ferrari in Q3

Sebastian Vettel has says that a low charged battery left Ferrari at a big disadvantage for the final stages of qualifying at Spa. Vettel will line-up up in second place on Sunday alongside Lewis Hamilton, who bagged his 78th career pole position.

The last number of minutes during qualifying saw rainfall, leading the drivers to switch onto the intermediate tyres. Ferrari decided to fuel up Vettel's car for a series of laps, which it failed to do with Raikkonen. But Vettel explained that the process of deciding what to do was very difficult.

"I think we had a wobble, I guess everybody had in these conditions," he said. "It was just not as calm as it could've been. Yeah, after that, well I mean looking back it's always very easy in these sessions, but the lap that mattered was the last one - before that was nearly irrelevant other than keeping your tyres warm.

"But that you don't know, you don't know whether the rain increases again. In the laps I had before, I couldn't close also due to traffic, so I knew that if I close on them then the next lap will be compromised then the next lap could be drier, so what do you do? As I said it didn't feel like I got everything out for various reasons, therefore it was a very scrappy session. You saw also the others not putting enough fuel for the end, so it can be a lot worse."

Vettel's fastest time was over seven-tenths of a second down on Hamilton, but he explained that he had a battery issue: "I think the way we set up normally it was fine to run until the end but I was surprised with myself when I crossed the line and saw that the battery was quite low, which was very costly.

"In the end we should've managed better as a team, but as I said, in these conditions it could've been a red flag in the last lap and then it doesn't matter, I always trying to open a gap in the last sector last corner, and slow down to charge the car -- but obviously it wasn't enough at the end. We got caught out."

Replies (0)

Login to reply

AZ Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Local time 

AZAzerbaijan Grand Prix

Local time 

World Championship standings 2025

Show full world champion standings

Test calendar

See full test schedule

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2025

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Bahrain
14 - Mar 16
Australia
21 - Mar 23
China
4 - Apr 6
Japan
11 - Apr 13
Bahrain
18 - Apr 20
Saudi Arabia
2 - May 4
United States of America
16 - May 18
Italy
23 - May 25
Monaco
30 - Jun 1
Spain
13 - Jun 15
Canada
27 - Jun 29
Austria
4 - Jul 6
United Kingdom
25 - Jul 27
Belgium
1 - Aug 3
Hungary
29 - Aug 31
Netherlands
5 - Sep 7
Italy
19 - Sep 21
Azerbaijan
3 - Oct 5
Singapore
17 - Oct 19
United States of America
24 - Oct 26
Mexico
7 - Nov 9
Brazil
21 - Nov 23
United States of America
28 - Nov 30
Qatar
5 - Dec 7
United Arab Emirates
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2025

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
14 - Mar 16
Australia Albert Park
21 - Mar 23
4 - Apr 6
11 - Apr 13
18 - Apr 20
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
2 - May 4
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
16 - May 18
23 - May 25
Monaco Monte Carlo
30 - Jun 1
13 - Jun 15
27 - Jun 29
Austria Red Bull Ring
4 - Jul 6
United Kingdom Silverstone
25 - Jul 27
1 - Aug 3
Hungary Hungaroring
29 - Aug 31
Netherlands Circuit Zandvoort
5 - Sep 7
Italy Monza
19 - Sep 21
Azerbaijan Baku City Circuit
3 - Oct 5
17 - Oct 19
United States of America Circuit of the Americas
24 - Oct 26
7 - Nov 9
Brazil Interlagos
21 - Nov 23
United States of America Las Vegas Street Circuit
28 - Nov 30
5 - Dec 7
United Arab Emirates Yas Marina Circuit
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team Ferrari
  • Points 3,529
  • Podiums 132
  • Grand Prix 231
  • Country GB
  • Date of b. Jan 7 1985 (40)
  • Place of b. Tewin, GB
  • Weight 68 kg
  • Length 1.74 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar