Sebastian Vettel: "We still need to improve the car"

Sebastian Vettel was lucky to escape a major issue with his Ferrari in FP2 after the car shut off as he drove down the back straight. The German required a push back to his garage before he was sent back on track.

The situation could have been much worse, however, as these types of scenarios usually mean curtains for a driver for the rest of the session. Ferrari was able to get the car back out on the track and complete a long run on the soft compound.

"Some sort of glitch all of a sudden, everything was dark," he said after Friday's practice session was over. "We were lucky we could recover with the issue happening late in the lap. We were lucky to recover and get some laps in the end."

"We saw after there was no damage," said Vettel. "We don't know yet. I'm sure we can fix it. Nowadays cars are just not cars, there's a lot of technology and software involved, so I think something went wrong on that side."

Despite topping both sessions, Vettel admits that work needs to be done: "Today was not the best day for us, we still need to improve the car. The car feels good on one lap, I think it was quite okay. Long run I think we might be a bit behind, but I think we can improve for tomorrow."

Fergal Walsh