Vettel: "It looks like we're close"

Sebastian Vettel believes that Ferrari is close to Mercedes following Friday practice in Melbourne. The Scuderia outfit finished the second practice session just under three-tenths away from Mercedes, indicating that the gap predicted after pre-season testing may not be entirely accurate.

Vettel admitted that it was a dull day, but he was pleased with the work done. The German completed sixty laps throughout the day with a fastest lap of 1:24.451. However, the four-time world champion believes that there is still time to find around the tight circuit.

"It’s been a rather dull day of work, like every Friday. We tried to chase the balance because I didn’t feel completely comfortable at first, but I’m not worried about that because I know that if we do everything right, the car should be in better shape. It looks like we are close, which is good news, so we should be able to do something tomorrow.

"This track is particularly tricky, in that if you don’t nail it at first, then there is quite of bit of lap time to be found, and I think we still have much potential to extract. The car is fine; it’s not where we want it to be yet, but if we keep on working, it should be ok. I really hope to make a bigger step than the others".