• Red Bull

We still have lots to do - Vettel

ESPN Staff
March 28, 2014 « Grosjean: Lotus not far off Red Bull aerodynamically | Rivals much closer in Sepang - Rosberg »
Sebastian Vettel showed continued signs of improvement for Red Bull © Sutton Images
Enlarge

Sebastian Vettel admits he is not yet ready to declare Red Bull a contender for victories despite a strong showing in Friday's second practice session.

After some issues hampered his opening session, Vettel went third in the later run, demonstrating once again the pace Red Bull has. He also managed to go well in his longer stint later on but Vettel is resisting the urge to put Red Bull up with Mercedes just yet, but he does believe there are other factors which could play into the team's hands.

"We are racing the weather here. Anything is possible here as we've seen in previous years. We are still racing ourselves because we are still not in a position where everything is 100%, but we are getting better every day. Hopefully we can make a step forward for tomorrow. Based on today it was quite ok, so we will see what we can do, but surely we are not favourites going into the race."

Vettel's season started off in forgettable circumstances in Australia, but he is confident he can get his title defence back on track during Saturday qualifying, especially if there is a spot of Malaysia's notorious rain.

"Always" he said, when asked if he could challenge for pole. "If it rains, anything is possible. If it is dry, probably a little bit more difficult. I think the best thing about today is that the car is clearly competitive. We know we still need to do a lot of catching up in terms of reliability but that's the name of the game, and that's what we are here for. I think we had a good day. Friday timings are not the most important in the world but it's good to be there, in range of the top guys. We had a decent day, not a completely smooth day for Daniel and myself. There's still a lot of things to solve on the software side which sound wrong but that's the way it is. I think it's the same for everyone."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
ESPN Staff Close