- Japanese GP - FP2
Vettel feared for Ricciardo after shunt
Sebastian Vettel said he had memories of Timo Glock's 2009 accident when he passed Daniel Ricciardo's wrecked Red Bull at the start of the pit straight.
Ricciardo lost his Red Bull on the exit of the final chicane, ploughing head-on into the barrier in an incident similar to Glock's - which left him with a cracked vertebrae and forced him out of the last three races of 2009. After the accident a radio message from Vettel asking if Ricciardo was OK was broadcast, which the world champion said was due to that memory.
"I didn't know what exactly happened, so I asked just to double check and fortunately he was fine," Vettel said. "A couple of years ago Timo Glock had a quite nasty accident there, which can happen very easily, so that's why I asked."
Vettel finished fifth in FP2 in his team-mate's absence, collecting data which is especially important to the team after Ricciardo was limited to just three laps. Vettel thinks there is room for improvement but is keeping his fingers crossed that the forecast of rain on Sunday is correct.
"Obviously in the last couple of years we were in a bit better shape after Friday. It's not yet where we want to be; the balance of the car we can improve, so we need to improve on that, especially on the short runs. We will have to wait and see what the weather does today and Saturday.
"I think we can definitely do better than fifth but probably hit the limiter at around third. I think we can improve, especially on the short run. It would be nice to fight [Mercedes], obviously if it rains, but otherwise it's the usual suspects; Williams, Ferrari, and McLaren, who seem to be stronger here."
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