Sebastian Vettel "tried to take risks" before before Russian GP qualifying crash

Russian Grand Prix

Vettel "tried to take risks" before Russian GP qualifying crash

Vettel will start 15th after Q2 smash

Ewan Gale

Saturday 26 September 2020 16:27 Updated: 16:38

Sebastian Vettel has conceded his Russian Grand Prix qualifying smash was as a result of him taking more risks to compensate for the lack of pace with his Ferrari.

Late in the Q2 session, the four-time F1 champion lost the rear-end through turn four at the Sochi Autodrom, hitting a barrier and coming to rest in the middle of the track.

After expressing optimism following a much-improved performance in final practice, Vettel has revealed the car became worse before qualifying.

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"I lost the car," said Vettel. "Already, in turn two I lost the car and then in turn four, I lost it again. I couldn't catch it.

"I was struggling, especially in the first sector. I tried to take more risks. I lost the car in two and again in four so I am not happy, obviously, but compared to the morning we struggled quite a bit in the afternoon."

Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc was one of the drivers to fall foul of the scramble at the end of Q2 after Vettel's car had been cleared away.

The Monégasque was unable to fully prepare his tyres for his final run due to the time constraints as drivers jostled for position to try and improve, eventually qualifying 11th.

Leclerc, however, was lucky to even have attempted a final run after narrowly avoiding his team-mate as he crashed.

"It was quite scary but hopefully, he is fine and it is not much worse than that," he said.

"Now it is more the disappointment of not going through into Q3. I thought I had no margins at all but there was actually quite a bit of margin and I could have taken a bigger gap to the car in front.

"It is frustrating but it is life. On a positive front, we are starting 11th, we are the first of the cars to choose our tyres for tomorrow so hopefully, we can benefit from it."

Before you go...

Russia "the worst place to be on pole" - Hamilton

Verstappen "very pleased" with unexpected Russian GP front-row qualifying