• Turkish Grand Prix - Qualifying

Vettel admits to 'strange feeling' watching qualifying

Sebastian Vettel was 0.4s quicker than his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• Report:
• Vettel takes pole with ease at Istanbul Park
  

• Race:
• Turkish Grand Prix

• Championship:
• FIA Formula One World Championship

• Drivers:
• Sebastian Vettel

• Teams:
• Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel admitted that it was a strange feeling watching the end of qualifying from within the garage as he secured pole position for the Turkish Grand Prix.

Vettel had a crash on Friday morning which prevented him from participating in the second practice session, but recovered to set the fastest time in final practice before taking pole. Vettel apologised to his team for the extra work they were forced to do overnight, but said that he was pleased with how his mechanics responded to still provide him with a quick car.

"First of all apologies to the team, to the mechanics," Vettel said. "Obviously I damaged the car yesterday so we couldn't run at all. We missed a session in the afternoon but they fixed it for today and I think they did a very good job. Obviously we have been there since this morning so I am very happy with the result."

Having experienced problems with his KERS during FP3, Vettel admitted it hadn't been a smooth build up to qualifying, but said that his fondness of the circuit helped him deliver his fifth consecutive pole position.

"We had not a real trouble free morning, but I think all in all we obviously had a bit to catch up. I like the track so that helps, and it was nice to see that without that many laps I was able to come back and find the rhythm. So all in all very happy today."

Vettel climbed out of his car after setting his lap time, with many other cars still out on track. He said it was odd to be watching on television, but that he was happy to have preserved an extra set of soft tyres for the race.

"It was a bit funny because both Mark and myself decided in the last bit of the qualifying in Q3 to skip the second run, and it's a very strange feeling because the others are on track and you know that they can beat you and you can just watch, there's nothing you can do. Obviously it's good to save the set of tyres for tomorrow, but it is an odd feeling."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.