The Turkish Grand Prix may not be shaping up the way that Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel wanted it too after qualifying 3rd in today’s action. The German looked nonplussed about the whole affair, understandably, as his teammate, Mark Webber, admittedly left the garage too early for his final flying lap placing him ahead of Vettel and on pole.
But pole position wasn’t just lost during a team communication error on when the drivers went out, it was most likely scuppered by an anti-roll bar issue as Vettel explained on Red Bull’s site:
“Q1 and Q2 went perfectly. Until then, Randy Mandy did a great job. The car was fast and reliable – just giving me a great feeling, so I had hoped to repeat the good runs in Q3.
But then something happened to the car and we think it has something to do with the rear anti-roll bar. I’d noticed a problem in the first turn, which is also the reason why the third sector was such a mess.
My left front tyre had blocked during braking. At first I thought that this would be a one-off, but shortly afterwards it happened again: the car simply didn’t brake the way I wanted it to. I slipped in the turn and that was it, end of story. Later we found out that there was a problem at the car itself which caused the wheel to block.
It’s a little annoying, but everything went perfectly until the problem. That’s why I’m positive about fighting for a podium place in tomorrow’s race.”
Things will be difficult for Vettel as the track is not going to be easy to pass in the pits or give way to creative strategy. A quick start will be essential if he wants to have a shot at the win.
