Chinese Grand Prix: Sebastian Vettel makes confident claim about beating Mercedes
SEBASTIAN VETTEL believes that Ferrari can once again provide a huge test to Mercedes at the Chinese Grand Prix as long as they can get their car set-up right.
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Vettel and the Prancing Horse have won both of the 2018 season’s first two races in Australia and Bahrain, seeing off Lewis Hamilton and then Valtteri Bottas.
That puts the German 17 points clear of title rival Hamilton going into this weekend’s race in Shanghai, where Mercedes are expected to be stronger than they were in Bahrain thanks to the cooler conditions.
But four-time world champion Vettel is optimistic over his chances of a third straight triumph at a circuit where Hamilton has won in three of the last four years.
Yet following claims from Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff that the competitive advantage between Ferrari and Mercedes will vary from track to track, Vettel acknowledged it is not clear whether he or Hamilton will have the better-equipped package in the Far East.
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I’m quite confident. I think if we get the balance of the car right and the car in the right window then we should be competitive.
“I think we should be alright,” the 30-year-old said to Formula1.com.
“Obviously it’s difficult to say. We’ve had two races now, one was very good - the other one was very good too in terms of results - but they were both quite different, that’s what I meant.
“So let’s see. It’s difficult to predict. The track here again is a bit different, I think conditions are different, it’s cooler, so we’ll see how that pans out.
“But I’m quite confident. I think if we get the balance of the car right and the car in the right window then we should be competitive.
“But how competitive, I don’t know, we will wait and see.”
The first free practice session of the Chinese Grand Prix gets underway at the Shanghai International Circuit at 3am UK time.