Sebastian Vettel conceded that he took too many risks on his final Q3 push lap as he missed out on pole position for Formula 1’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Vettel clocked provisional pole after the first Q3 efforts, brushing the wall through Turn 19, but an error through Turn 3 on his second push effort left him playing catch-up.
Vettel ultimately aborted his lap in the wake of a slide through Turn 14 and subsequently slipped to third spot, as Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc claimed pole, with the Ferrari drivers split by Lewis Hamilton.
“It started off very good and then the last run I think I had already in sector one lost a bit then was playing catch-up, trying to take more and more risks throughout the lap which didn’t pay off and then the last lap obviously didn’t come together,” said Vettel.
“I think overall it’s a good result for us, putting the car first and third for the team is great.
“It wasn’t a track where we expected to be so strong. So I’m happy with that, but not at the end of Q3. The car was good today and pole was up for grabs, but we’ll see tomorrow.”
On his final Q3 effort, Vettel said: “I think the lap time [set by Leclerc] was possible.
“I thought the first run was a good reference but in S3 I had quite a bit of lap time in hand, and parts in S2.
“In the last attempt I lost the car a little bit through Turn 3 in Sector 1, and then again in Turn 9.
“From that point onwards I was a little bit down compared to previous laps and was trying to catch up, probably pushed a bit hard. As simple as that.
“Then I had a bigger mistake at 18 so there was quite a bit of lap time lost. The car was good, I felt good, just a shame I didn’t put together the last attempt in Q3 but I think it was there today.”
