- German GP - Qualifying
Vettel disappointed by Renault and Red Bull upgrades
Sebastian Vettel said he expected more from updates from both Renault and Red Bull on Saturday as he qualified sixth on the grid for the German Grand Prix.
Renault had promised a major software upgrade for FP3 which was supposed to boost performance, but three different Mercedes-powered teams still locked out the first two rows. Red Bull was also running a change on its car and Vettel said the upgrades did not have the desired effect.
"I don't think as much as we were hoping for," said Vettel when asked about the Renault software upgrade. "We had an update on the car but it didn't bring us as much as it was supposed to."
Despite seeming to have the edge over team-mate Daniel Ricciardo all weekend Vettel's was unable to jump above the Australian with his final run.
"It was generally better than this morning so I was fairly happy, on the last run we just didn't seem to be able to go with the track. I didn't get a smooth lap and didn't improve."
Williams appeared to be struggling to find a good set-up on Friday but were back to their recent best on Saturday, with Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa qualifying second and third, which Vettel admitted was a surprise.
"To be honest I think Williams didn't look as competitive yesterday so they made a big step today which was a bit of a surprise. But then again in the last couple of races they have been very strong so I think they will be very strong as well tomorrow. Generally on race pace we look a little bit better than maybe in raw qualifying pace."
When asked if Red Bull can beat Williams on Sunday, Vettel replied: "We'll try.
"I think in terms of race pace we should be closer but in the last couple of races they have been very strong. Even if they have bad Fridays, maybe they run a completely different spec on Friday compared to the rest of the weekend which could well be the case. I expect them to be strong tomorrow but we might be a bit closer in terms of race pace than qualifying."
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