- Malaysian GP - Qualifying
Vettel believes win is possible even without rain
Sebastian Vettel confidently declared Ferrari can beat Mercedes come rain or shine in Malaysia after qualifying on the front row of the grid for Sunday's grand prix.
In a wet Q3 Vettel crossed just 0.074s shy of Lewis Hamilton's pole time, enough to leapfrog fellow countryman Nico Rosberg in the other Mercedes. Ferrari has not tasted victory since Fernando Alonso won the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix but Vettel is prepared to take the fight to the Mercedes pair in Malaysia.
When asked if he can win the grand prix, Vettel replied: "I think yes, we can, but it depends on a lot of things that I cannot tell you now. As you saw today, there is rain in the air, if it comes at the right moment for you, it can be quite good but it can work against you too. Our race pace looks decent, but we have to be realistic.
"Mercedes has an advantage which hasn't just disappeared. It is still there, so we have to look after ourselves, then we'll see."
Vettel's performance gave Ferrari its first front row start in two years, a drought stretching back to Felipe Massa's efforts at the Sepang circuit in 2013. Though it helped his cause on Saturday Vettel does not think rain will be an essential factor in beating Mercedes this weekend given Ferrari's long run pace on Friday.
"We should have a good car anyway. I think we had a decent Friday and we have done our homework. Obviously now we see what we can do to prepare for the race - obviously we can't touch the cars - but the balance was pretty good for qualifying and on Friday was pretty solid. O
"Obviously we will be looking after the tyres and I know this race can be a difficult one on tyres and you never know with the rain; there is always a chance and it could mix things up. Starting where we do I think we have a decent chance to do well tomorrow and we could be up for anything"
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