Vettel believes victory in Malaysia is possible

Sebastian Vettel is confident Ferrari can take the fight to Mercedes in Malaysia on Sunday, after he qualified between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

The German was just 0.074 seconds off Hamilton’s pole position lap time which put him ahead of Rosberg. Whilst the rain certainly helped to close things up, Vettel remains upbeat about his prospects on Sunday.

“I think yes, we can [win], but it depends on a lot of things that I cannot tell you now,” said Vettel. “As you saw today, there is rain in the air, if it comes at the right moment for you, it can be quite good but it can work against you too. Our race pace looks decent, but we have to be realistic.

“Mercedes has an advantage which hasn’t just disappeared. It is still there, so we have to look after ourselves, then we’ll see.”

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His performance on Saturday gave Ferrari its first front-row start since the same race two years ago and he is therefore keen to turn it into a healthy haul of points.

The Scuderia haven’t won a race since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, but come rain or shine, Vettel believes that could change in Malaysia.

“We should have a good car anyway,” he added. “I think we had a decent Friday and we have done our homework. Obviously now we see what we can do to prepare for the race – obviously we can’t touch the cars – but the balance was pretty good for qualifying and on Friday was pretty solid.

“Obviously we will be looking after the tyres and I know this race can be a difficult one on tyres and you never know with the rain; there is always a chance and it could mix things up. Starting where we do I think we have a decent chance to do well tomorrow and we could be up for anything.”