- Chinese GP - Qualifying
Vettel admits Ricciardo is beating him 'fair and square'
Sebastian Vettel has admitted Daniel Ricciardo is beating him fair and square at the moment after being out-qualified by his Red Bull team-mate at the Chinese Grand Prix on Saturday.
Vettel was over 0.5s off Ricciardo in the final session of qualifying at the Shanghai International Circuit and two weeks ago found himself unable to match Ricciardo's pace at the Bahrain Grand Prix. Vettel said he was still getting to grips with the new Red Bull RB10 but did not deny Ricciardo is getting the better of him so far.
"I think Daniel is doing a very good job, he has not just had one good weekend, he had good weekends and so far he seems to be able to get the maximum out of the car," he said. "On my side, maybe I'm struggling a little bit more, but at the end of the day we have the same car - there's nothing between cars, so if he manages to beat me, then he beats me on the circuit, fair and square. Of course, that's not to my liking but equally, I know that I have to do a little bit better."
After the two Red Bulls split the two Mercedes on the grid, Vettel was asked whether he and Ricciardo could fight for victory and alluded to Red Bull's lack of power compared to the Mercedes: "Well, I think if we put two chicanes in all the straights then yes."
He added: "In wet conditions I think we have a bit more of a chance. In dry conditions they are still quite quick and a little bit too far away. But let's see what happens tomorrow, I think the weather forecast is dry so for sure we'll try. I think we are in the best positions to try to give them a very hard time tomorrow."
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