Vettel ‘sort of regrets’ not gambling on Q3 tow boost

Sebastian Vettel was left in two minds as to whether his Q3 strategy was the correct call as he missed out on pole position for Formula 1’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Ferrari had looked favourites for pole heading into qualifying in Baku, but the team was on the backfoot after Charles Leclerc crashed out in Q2 during a dramatic and disrupted session.

Vettel ultimately ended up three-tenths adrift behind the Mercedes duo of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton and left to settle with third on the grid for Sunday’s race.

The German was at the front of the pack as the final flying laps of Q3 began, meaning that while he had the best track position, he did not receive a tow as there were no drivers ahead of him on circuit - something he was left to dwell on after qualifying.

“I don’t know if they [Mercedes] stole it I think they were a bit quicker than us today,” Vettel conceded.

“For me it started a bit slow and towards the end it was getting better. The session was tricky and long, the sun is going down and the track was cooling down so it was difficult to find the right balance of pushing on the outlap and playing with the tow trying to get something.

“At the end, I had a good lap but I had no tow to close the lap so that cost a bit. But I’m happy that we sort of got the maximum out of it, not happy overall from the team point of view.

“We were expecting to have a better session with Charles and myself and to be closer to the front.”

Asked how much he thinks he could have gained by having the benefit of a tow, Vettel replied: “It depends but up to half a second.

“But then it’s always a compromise and if you get too close in the middle sector then you lose out. I would say going with the other people [the tow] would have gained around three tenths, so it would have been a bit closer with somebody in front.

“The track was getting cooler and the car more difficult to drive and I prioritised to push on the outlap to have the tyres in the window for the start of the lap. Now I sort of regret that I didn’t take the gamble on but I think it was still probably the right call.”