Formula One news

Vettel gets one over Bourdais

Sebastian Vettel won the first battle with Champ Car champion team mate Sebastien Bourdais as he qualified a remarkable tenth and Bourdais ended up 17th.

"In one sense this was a good session as I had a strong pace in Q2," said Vettel. "I had a good lap at the end of it. Unfortunately, a technical problem meant I could not take part in Q3, but whatever happens I plan to attack to the maximum in the race." 

Sebastien Bourdais commented, "The car felt really solid this afternoon compared to the morning when we struggled to put everything together because of the limited running I had yesterday. We made a few changes for the afternoon and I felt we were right on the money. My first run was good on the prime tyre and I was competitive. Then on the first set of option tyres, I had a really good lap until unfortunately I made a mistake at the second to last corner, which ruined it. I had another try towards the end of Q1 but there was a yellow flag which cost me too much time. A shame, as I felt I could have been in Q2." 

Team manager Giorgio Ascanelli added, "Vettel did a very good job to make it into Q3, but unfortunately he was unable to take any part in the final session because of a technical problem. On his first ever F1 qualifying session, Bourdais could have made it through to Q2, but unfortunately his final attempt was spoilt by yellow flags."

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