Shanghai - Ferrari clinched two leading positions in China GP qualifying. The difference of time reaches half a second admitted Valtteri Bottas shocking Mercedes.
Vettel took pole in qualifying session at Shanghai International Circuit on Saturday (14/4/2018), with a best time of one minute 31.095 seconds. Kimi Raikkonen then came in second with a margin of only 0.087 seconds.
The third rank is occupied by Bottas. Note the time of the Mercedes driver is one second 31.625 seconds. The difference with Vettel reached 0.530 seconds.
Read also: Vettel Pole, Ferrari Start 1-2
That number admitted Bottas surprised Mercedes. They originally predicted to compete for pole with Ferrari racers.
"We were surprised by the difference, we thought we could fight for the pole but it was definitely out of reach," said Bottas.
"I think they have a really strong car, you can see it in a very long corner they can outperform us."
"Now there is no difference in speed on the straight track and with the advantage that they get round the corner, we obviously have homework," he said.