Vettel 'going up against a wall' as SF1000 pace stalls
A frustrated Sebastian Vettel said after a mediocre qualifying at Silverstone that he feels like he is "going up against a wall" while trying his best to extract more pace from Ferrari's SF1000.
Vettel's struggles at Silverstone were already present in last week's British Grand Prix, and while his team vowed to put his car's performance on a par with that of teammate Charles Leclerc, the German driver's troubles appear no closer to being solved this weekend.
Leclerc was hardly competitive in Saturday's shootout which he finished P8, but Vettel failed to even make the Q3 cut as he was left stranded in 12th in Q2. The four-time world champion will nevertheless line up 11th on Sunday's grid after Renault's Esteban Ocon was handed a grid penalty.
When all was said and done a disheartened Vettel admitted to being clueless as to how to improve his fortunes.
"We've tried a lot of things and I have to compliment my team on the work they've done," he told Sky Italia.
"This weekend I feel a bit better in the car than I did last weekend but looking at the stopwatch you can't see the difference.
"I feel like I'm going up against a wall. I don't think there is any more potential in my car.
"Being 12th is disappointing and having this gap to Charles also, but as I said, I am doing everything I can and I don't think the car can do more than it did today."
©Ferrari
Vettel made clear that his problems weren't rooted in bad luck but in a painful lack of speed.
"We are in the same position compared to last week, nothing has changed," he admitted.
"Everyone is pushing and giving their all, but it seems like there is something we just can't change."
"If I'm honest we're in this position because we're not fast enough. We have been clearly beaten by those in front of us.
"It's not a question of bad luck or anything. Tomorrow it will be difficult to bring home points but we will try to do our best. We'll see what we can do."
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