MONZA, Italy -- Sebastian Vettel says he was "on the limit" for the lap which helped him beat Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen to third on the grid for the Italian Grand Prix.
With Ferrari fighting for best of the rest at its home grand prix, Vettel found himself down on Raikkonen after the initial Q3 runs. Vettel improved on his final run, moving 0.1s clear of Raikkonen despite a wide moment on the exit of the Parabolica.
The lap was four tenths shy of Nico Roberg in the second Mercedes and 0.8s off Hamilton on pole, but Vettel says he was close to maximum attack.
"First of all I wasn't too happy with the first shot in Q3, sort of lost the rhythm a bit and wasn't able to get it back," Vettel explained. "Had a good lap... Went just on the limit at the final corner and was a bit late going on the throttle.
"Not a great start, not a great first sector, it was missing that little bit from Q2. I brought it back in sector two and sector three.
"Obviously very happy for us to lock out the second row as a team. Not entirely happy as the gap is quite big to those guy ahead, looks like they are in a world of their own today, but who knows what happens tomorrow."
Vettel hopes he and Raikkonen can repay the tifosi for their support on Sunday.
"Its great to see that we've got so much support. Last year was phenomenal and this year has been even better. Every out lap you do everyone stands up and waves. It's great so see all the flags... I think the support we get here is massive. Big thanks to all the tifosi and hopefully we can give something back tomorrow."