Vettel takes blame for slow pace in free practice at Baku

Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel haven’t had the perfect start to the weekend in Baku, as Vettel ended FP2 11th best on the circuit, 1.3 seconds behind the leader, Daniel Ricciardo.

Raikkonen ended FP2 as second best and hence any concerns regarding the pace of Ferrari were done away it.

Vettel took the blame on himself for having locked up his front tyres under braking during his qualification simulation at Baku.

“It’s all on me and I think the car is fine,” Vettel said.

“I didn’t get the laps together and it can happen very easily here with little mistakes in braking. The long run was a lot better and I think we can improve the car tomorrow and we should be okay.

“It is a tricky track, but it’s tricky for all of us. I think I struggled a little bit more than the others but I’m not too worried. Towards the end I had a good read of the situation and I think we can improve tomorrow. It’s a little bit tricky to find a rhythm.

“This morning and at the start of the second session I didn’t find it and I wasn’t up to speed but I was pretty happy with the long run at the end. It was okay.” he added.

Vettel has a 9 point lead at the top of the driver’s championship, a lead that was cut down after Vettel ended up 7th in China, following that ugly crash with Verstappen.

Vettel would be hoping that the Azerbaijan GP can put his title surge back on track for him.