Vettel thanks Raikkonen for qualifying help

Sebastian Vettel has extended his thanks to the "friend" who he says helped him seal a front row spot in qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix; his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

As the German struggled to improve on fifth towards the end of the session, Raikkonen made an error ahead of him, and this convinced the Finn to focus on helping Vettel gain a good slipstream ahead of his final flying lap. The collaboration paid dividends, and Vettel was catapulted into second place at the chequered flag, only two-tenths away from polesitter Lewis Hamilton.

"I think I had a little bit of help from a friend," he said afterwards. "Kimi had to abort his lap and was very generous giving me a nice tow in the last sector, which got me like two-tenths, so that helped - it made it more comfortable with Valtteri.

"In Q1 I was really happy, the car was amazing. In Q2, the job was to get through. In Q3, on the first lap, I was missing a bit of a feel for the front. My second run in Q3 was better in that regard, and I got a bit of help, but it was tricky getting into the last corner, knowing you arrive faster with the tow, and braking is never easy.

"I managed to get it right and get it across the line. Our pace has been very good this weekend, less for one lap, more for long runs, so let's see what we can do."

Mason Hawker