Sebastian Vettel admitted that he felt “a bit sad” because of his last qualifying session at Suzuka in Formula 1.
Vettel made his first Q3 appearance since the Azerbaijan GP at Suzuka. The Aston Martin driver finished qualifying in 9th place.
Ahead of the Japanese GP race weekend, Vettel stated that Suzuka is his favorite track on the calendar. He revealed that he had mixed feelings during his last qualifying there.
“Laps like this make me – not regret [retirement] because I look forward to what’s coming, but a bit sad about the fact that it’s the last time,” the German said.
“Saturday here is different to Sunday because Sunday you have more fuel in the car, it’s more managing, different discipline in a way. Saturday is when you’re flying. We are far away from P1, but the feeling in the car is something special when the fuel is light and the tire is fresh.
“It’s the Saturday that here you’re most alive in the car because you’re faster. I will never go as fast tomorrow as I went today because you don’t have new tires and hardly any fuel in the car. It will be different.
“It’s great around here in the race as well because you have so many laps and repeat, and finding the best balance between managing tires and attacking, doing it for so many laps.”
