Vettel accepts their "rivals were simply quicker"

Sebastian Vettel had a mixed day in Japan, he secured a stunning pole position during the early hours of Sunday morning but Ferrari struggled during the race despite Vettel's P2 finish.

Vettel set the standard during Q3, to help Ferrari lock out the front row but come the second turn, both were behind the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas. Charles Leclerc ultimately finished further down the pecking order due to his collision with Max Verstappen but Vettel was able to hold on to second despite Lewis Hamilton coming very close to an overtake in the closing stages.

Vettel gave an honest assessment of his Japanese Grand Prix and admitted their rivals were just quicker than them.

“We had a very good morning, but the afternoon was less good in terms of the result we were able to achieve as a team," Vettel said in Ferrari's post-race report.