BAKU, Azerbaijan -- Sebastian Vettel took the blame for his lacklustre performance in Friday practice for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but is confident he can still challenge for pole position in qualifying.
Vettel was 10th fastest in a scrappy morning session and dropped to 11th in the afternoon when the drivers attempted low-fuel runs on the softest tyres. After making a mistake at Turn 2 on his quick lap, Vettel finished the session 1.3s off the fastest time set by Daniel Ricciardo and 1.2s off Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen.
When asked if there was a problem with the car, Vettel refused to blame his tools.
"It's all in me and I think the car is fine," he said. "I didn't get the laps together and it can happen very easily here with a little mistake under braking. The long run was a lot better and I think we can improve the car tomorrow and we should be OK."
Asked if he was struggling with the unusual track layout in Baku, which features long straights along the Caspian Sea and a tight section around the Old City, Vettel said he seemed to be having more issues than his rivals.
"It is a tricky one, but then again it's tricky for all of us. I think I struggled a little bit more than the others but I'm not too worried. Towards the end I had a good read of the situation and I think we can improve tomorrow.
"I think getting into the rhythm was the key and then understanding what the car needs. We now have a little bit of time to reset and trim the car. Hopefully it feels even better tomorrow."