Sebastian Vettel refuses to blame Ferrari after qualifying failure
Sunday 30 June 2019 14:39, UK
Sebastian Vettel has insisted that the mechanical problem that ruled his Ferrari out of the final qualifying session at the Austrian GP was "nobody's fault".
Vettel appeared set to battle for pole position with his teammate Charles Leclerc before a problem with the "air pressure line to the engine" struck the Ferrari after his first run in Q2.
Such was the quality of that run, Vettel comfortably made it through to Q3, but was then forced to watch Leclerc take pole as the Ferrari mechanics unsuccessfully tried to fix his car.
"Well obviously the car was broken, so we couldn't fire it up and go, so we lost part of Q2 and then Q3 completely," Vettel said.
"We fairly quickly made the decision to change, but it's not so easy. We had to take the bodywork off and it's not so easy to get there.
"The guys did everything they could, but we couldn't do it in time. Obviously it's frustrating, but there's nothing you can do inside the car. Nobody's fault. For sure we need to understand what happened and make sure it doesn't happen again."
The incident was the latest setback for Vettel in a season where the four-time world champion has failed to win any of the opening eight races.
Despite finishing qualifying in 10th, Vettel will start the race in ninth due to a five-place grid penalty for Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.
"We tried everything to fix it. I knew that if we fixed it most likely there would be one run, so I was trying to focus solely on that, but it didn't happen.
"At least as much of a pain as it is, it's also good to see that the other car came through and obviously got pole.
"(I'm) happy for the team, obviously not happy for my side, but we'll have a good day and a good race tomorrow."
The whole Austrian GP weekend is live only on Sky Sports F1. Sunday's race begins at 2.10pm with build-up from 12.30pm. Find out more about Formula 1 on Sky Sports
