Sebastian Vettel says the 0.706s gap to Nico Rosberg in qualifying for the the Russian Grand Prix shows the size of the challenge Ferrari faces in beating Mercedes.
After Lewis Hamilton suffered a second consecutive power unit issue in qualifying, Vettel set the second fastest time in qualifying but will drop to seventh once a gearbox change penalty is applied. Despite the shuffling of the order, Vettel was still 0.706s adrift of the lead Mercedes and admits Ferrari got the best out of its car.
"Of course I would have liked the gap in the end to be a bit smaller but I think in Q2 we saw that Nico in particular was very strong, getting the lap in," Vettel said. "It was a good job from his side and for us I think it was the maximum, we benefitted from what happened to Lewis, which I'm not sure exactly what it was but it allowed us to go P2 which helps for tomorrow with the penalty.
"We are a bit closer, starting on the clean side of the track, so I think we can have a good race from there. It should be quite exciting, the car feels good and I think all weekend has been quite strong, we lost some time but I think we made it up this morning so it shouldn't be an issue."
But Vettel says Ferrari can still be pleased with the progress it has made by this point of the season.
"I think we've had quite a trip so far with not everything going according to plan. We could have won the first race if things go a little bit different so overall it's not so bad. I think we have shown great pace especially on Sunday and that's where you get the points. We know that we need to work and we are pushing very hard but it's not so easy, Mercedes is doing a great job, those two guys driving the car are doing a good job so it's a difficult team to beat. We are not at kindergarten so I think it's for grownups and therefore the challenge is tough but ultimately we want to be the best so we have to be ready to tackle the best and so far we are very optimistic that we can turn it around."
Asked if he was frustrated by Ferrari's reliability issues, Vettel added: "Not frustrated at all, obviously it's not nice if these things happen because they don't make your life easier but equally its part of racing, these things can happen. They didn't happen on purpose, they weren't planned but I think we are pushing very hard trying to catch up, which I think especially in race pace I think we've proved already this year.
"Obviously we didn't have a properly clean race yet but maybe we will have tomorrow, you never know, it's a long race, it's a long way, especially around here there's a lot of things that can happen so I think we need to wait and see but now it's still April, tomorrow is May and there is a long, long way to go. It's a long championship and at the moment I think it's important to do your best to get the maximum points every time and the rest you'll find out anyways."