F1 news: Sebastian Vettel confident he can catch Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas
SEBASTIAN VETTEL is confident his Ferrari can match the pace of the two Mercedes at Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
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Vettel qualified third for the final Grand Prix of the season as Mercedes locked out the front row.
Bottas beat Hamilton into second place by setting a track record at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Q3.
It was the Finn’s fourth career pole and continued an excellent week for Mercedes, who have barely put a foot wrong since arriving for the last race of 2017.
Ferrari were well off the pace on Saturday yet Vettel will still get a run at the Silver Arrows down into Turn 1.
And he is hoping to maintain the small gains he’s been getting over the weekend.
“I am getting better,” he said.
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“Mercedes always had the edge here in qualifying but I think it was a good session.
“It was a bit of a shame to be that far back to tomorrow, with our race pace, we can be a bit closer. They have been very, very strong.
“Valtteri had a mega lap so congratulations to him. But we will see what happens.
“It should be a fun race. Overtaking is not straightforward but not impossible here, so let’s see.”
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As for pole sitter Bottas, the Finn said: "It was a very clean session and I managed to find time every run.
"The car was feeling much better than any point of the weekend and that allowed me to work on the details."
