Vettel "not blaming anyone" after disaster tyre gamble

Sebastian Vettel has insisted that he is "not blaming anybody" at his side Ferrari for the tyre gamble that failed during the qualifying session in Japan earlier on.

Vettel and his team-mate Kimi Raikkonen were the only drivers on the grid to be sent out with intermediate tyres at the start of Q3, but they both returned to the pits after just one lap with the track being dry.

The rain then came in and showered the circuit towards the end of the session, and Vettel lost too much time at the start and couldn't set a quick fast lap at all.

"I think, why we took the decisions, five or six minutes later it started to rain quite heavy so there was something in the air," the German told Motorsport. "I think we expected there was more rain coming and obviously it didn't so then it was the wrong decision. When the conditions are like this then either you get it right or you get it wrong.

"So I'm not blaming anybody."

Vettel was then asked about who made the decision and the man who is second in the drivers' standings replied: "Why does it matter? It's our call!"

The Scuderia driver thought the track was in good condition and refused to blame his misfortunes on that.

"It (the track) was OK," Vettel added. "I lost it into Turn 14, so that was obviously the only lap that I had, which didn't help."