Sebastian Vettel won the ninth grid in qualifying for the F1 Japan GP, which is comparable to this year’s qualifying best result. He said the radio tribute in Japanese, “Arigatou Gozaimasu, Suzuka,” came naturally.
Sebastian Vettel, who will retire from F1 this year and become the “Last Suzuka”, surpassed Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren) by 0.3 seconds in qualifying Q2 at Suzuka Circuit, achieving the fifth advance to Q3 this season.
Already at the end of Q2 Sebastian Vettel said on the team radio: ‘It was really fun. This track is so much better than all the others,’ he said.
Furthermore, in Q3, “Arigatou Gozaimasu, Suzuka. Thank you. I miss this place,’ he said in Japanese.
Sebastian Vettel insists he won’t reconsider leaving Formula 1 at the end of the upcoming season, but has confessed some thoughts on facing the reality that he will never race in a Formula 1 car again. .
“With laps like this, I don’t regret retiring. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next,” Sebastian Vettel told Sky Sports F1 after the session.
“At the same time, it’s the last time we’ll be working on this track in qualifying trim, so it’s a bit sad.”
“I love this place.
Sebastian Vettel expressed his enthusiasm for F1’s return to Japan on Thursday after three years due to the coronavirus pandemic, and will make a one-off comeback from retirement if he wants to race again at Suzuka in the future. He suggested that it might be accepted.
After qualifying, Sebastian Vettel reiterated his love for the Suzuka circuit, where he won his second of four F1 world titles in 2011, and spoke of the warm welcome from the enthusiastic Japanese crowd.
“I enjoyed the whole qualifying session,” he said. “It was very tight until we got to Q2, then it got even tighter in Q3. It was a great day for us and a great session.”
“I have a lot of support here, which is great. There’s a lot of energy and people seem very happy to have us back. There are so many German flags around. I’m glad I could say thank you.”
When asked if the Japanese ‘arigatou’ comment was planned in advance, Sebastian Vettel said: ‘No, it came naturally.’
“This place gave me a lot of fun and the feeling of being alive in the car. It felt right to say thank you.”
Sebastian Vettel, who starts Sunday’s race ten places on the grid ahead of Aston Martin team-mate Lance Stroll, said Suzuka wasn’t the track he expected the kit cars to excel at. He said that he was able to get a good performance.
“Theoretically it’s not our track. We have pretty big wings and the car drags too much,” said Vettel.
“I don’t know, but it might be a little Suzuka power!”
“The Q2 lap was under pressure, I was under pressure to get through Q3 with a perfect lap. He said he was very happy.”
“I could have been faster in Q3, but I’m not actually racing anyone because I know everyone else should be faster than me.”
“We beat Lando[Norris]who was a bit unlucky, but overall it was a very good session.”
Category: F1 / Sebastian Vettel / F1 Japan GP / aston martin