Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda says Lewis Hamilton's "special" pole lap in China cost him a friendly 10 Euro wager with Toto Wolff that Sebastian Vettel would finish the day in front.
Ferrari looked strong all day and went one-two in FP3, though Mercedes closed the gap considerably for qualifying. After seeing Ferrari re-establish the advantage in Q2 Hamilton moved ahead in Q3, cementing pole position with a 1:31.678 late in the session -- 0.186s quicker than Vettel, who in turn was 0.001s ahead of Valtteri Bottas.
Lauda admits Ferrari's early pace prompted a friendly bet with Mercedes' team boss Wolff.
When asked if he thought Ferrari had pole position locked up, Lauda told Sky Sports: "Yeah. I made a bet with Toto, 10 Euros on Vettel! He really looked quick in the car, everything was right.
"But Lewis, thank god, put out one of his special laps. For Bottas to be one thousandth of a second third, I'm sorry but it's close."
After seeing another tight qualifying battle -- which saw the top two teams split by 0.4s -- Lauda thinks Ferrari have proved just how close they are to the world champions in terms of raw pace.
"The explanation is that Ferrari grew up in the Barcelona tests, won the first race, so it is very close between us at the moment. I think the qualifying we are still quicker but let's wait for the race tomorrow."