Vettel: “We lost something in the first sector”

Sebastian Vettel believes changing temperatures in qualifying for the German Grand Prix cost him the lead he held until Free Practice 3.

The Red Bull driver was favorite for pole after beating his rivals by 0,6 seconds on Saturday morning.

But qualifying, on a hotter track and with a change in wind direction, rewarded Hamilton's Mercedes who beat Vettel by a tenth of a second.

“I was very satisfied after free practice 3 this morning, happy with the car, we didn't change much, but this afternoon I struggled, especially in the first part of the track,” Vettel said.

“It was very windy, we had wind from behind and the track was a little warmer.”

“The car wasn't bad, it wasn't bad in the first sector, but the time wasn't there.”

“I tried to do my best in the next two sectors but it wasn't enough to beat Lewis today.”

Vettel still believes Red Bull has made great progress over Mercedes' qualifying pace.

“We were much closer than we were at Silverstone,” he said. “We have made some progress and we have confidence for tomorrow.”

Mark Webber put the second Red Bull third on the grid and agrees with Vettel's assessment.

“We lost a little in the first sector. It was difficult to find the pace we had in L3, there was a change in track temperature and wind direction.”

“On long runs we are in good shape and in a good place to put pressure on Mercedes tomorrow.”