• Malaysian Grand Prix

Vettel admits he lost time in Q3

ESPNF1 Staff
April 3, 2010 « Schumacher disappointed with qualifying | »
Sebastian Vettel during the wet qualifying session © Sutton Images
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Sebastian Vettel admitted to a number of small mistakes on his fast lap in Q3, which was only good enough for third on the grid at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Vettel took pole at the opening two rounds of the season but will line up behind his team-mate Mark Webber and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg for Sunday's race. Webber gambled on using intermediate tyres in Q3 while Vettel and the rest of the field opted for a more conservative choice of wet tyres after a thunderstorm stopped running midway through.

"It was a tricky session - it was important to get into the next round and then qualify as high up as we could, which we did," he said. "It's a shame as I had some moments on my fastest lap - I was close to Nico, only about one tenth off I think, but if you look back there wasn't that much margin. I think we can be very pleased with third today and everything is possible tomorrow."

He added that the stewards made the right call to red flag the final qualifying session during the worst of the rain and restart it once the thunderstorm had passed.

"It was very tricky at the start of Q3, there was a lot of water and it was the right thing to call the red flag - it was just impossible," Vettel said. "I think there was too much water - the cars are quite low, so you end up swimming more than driving."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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