Vettel expects a "long race" on Sunday but has hopes for points

Sebastian Vettel failed to reach Q3 for the eleventh time in a row. Although in Bahrain, he was very close to making it through to the shootout. Vettel starts ahead of his teammate, Charles Leclerc, and that he is the first driver on the grid with a free choice of tyres.

"It was very tough and tight. I think Sector 2 wasn't ideal, I was too close to George [Russell], maybe that didn't help, and I was struggling after the stop and go in the final sector to get the fronts really to work," Vettel explains to Motorsport.com.

"Maybe there was a little bit more [time], so Sector 2 was for sure not super clean. Overall I think it's more or less where we belong this weekend," the four-time world champion honestly admits. Tyre choice will become very important to the race as wear and tear in Bahrain is extremely high.

"This track is very rough, very tough on tyres, and that will be the key tomorrow to manage those. I think if we are sly as a fox, we have a good chance. If not, then it will be a long race. I still believe that there is a good chance to score some points," said Vettel.