Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel accepted that he “chickened out” during his final Q3 run at the Brazilian Grand Prix as he missed out on pole position to Valtteri Bottas.
Vettel held the advantage after the opening laps but failed to improve on his benchmark, and slipped to second at the chequered flag as Bottas went quicker.
“I was very happy with the first lap,” said Vettel.
“I knew that in the last corner, in that first attempt in Q3, I had a little bit left because I lost the rear a bit.
“So I wanted to get there about the same and then I knew I could gain some time but yeah, I chickened out a little bit too early in the first corner, braking a bit too early, the grip was there, so I lost some time compared to the first run.
“Then I managed to stay there and got what I thought I will back in the last corner – but it wasn’t enough to come back.
“So, yeah, not ideal but overall I think a very positive day for us.”
Team-mate Kimi Räikkönen will start from third position, having been unable to match Bottas and Vettel during the pole shootout.
“The feeling was pretty good on some laps but it was a bit tricky to have full confidence in the first corner to be sure that the tyres will work well and you don’t lock the wheel,” he said.
“That was really the most difficult. Some sets seemed to be more easy than others and the last set actually I had more grip than I expected.
“But yeah, not ideal but not too bad. I think the car is very good, position, the handling, so tomorrow is a race and it should be OK.”
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