Sebastian Vettel has qualified third forꦛ the Japanese Grand Prix behind both Mercedes drivers but after being𝐆 promoted to the front row says it was overall ‘positive’ and that Ferrari should be stronger in the race at Suzuka.

Vettel missed out on an opportunity for pole in Malaysia due to an engine issue excluded him from qualifying𒉰 while the Mercedes struggled and despite a recovery drive to a fourth-place finish he slipped further behind Hamilton in the points and is now 34 points behind his title rival.

Qualifying less than a ten-and-a-half of a second off Bottas, Vettel said he was happy with P3, which turns into P2 due to a five-place grid penalty for the Finnish drive💝r after a gearb൩ox change.

“I'm pretty happy to be honest - the car balance is getting better, obviously we’re lacking a bit of performance but all in allꦦ it was a positive day. I think the car should be a bit better in the race,” Vettel said.

“Last run in Q3 I tried a litt🧸le bit more than maybe it was but I feel the gap behind is quite big and Valtteri wasn’t really a threat, he gets the penalty tomorrow so a b꧋it more risk, didn’t work but still happy with third and then the front row tomorrow, we’ll see how the start goes. We can get a quite good start."

Vettel said he believed the Ferraris could o⛎utpace the Merce𒐪des in the race, even with his teammate Raikkonen, also facing a grid penalty, starting outside the top 10.

"Obviously you always know what you’re doing but they’ve been up and down - last week they weren’t very quick, this ℱweek they seem to be back to normal.

"So I think so far this year it’s been very close and I expect it to be very close tomorrow, very fast. I think normally we are a bit stronger in the race than 💛quail so it’s worth getting the pit together and then seeing what we can d💛o, engineering or at the start or during the race.

"I think the car is quick so even if - last w൲eekend showed that even if you qualꦇify out of position, start out of position you can come back so I’m sure he [Raikkonen] will have a strong race from where he starts."

Vettel sai♎d the most decisive factor might be who can react to conditions tomorrow, when the 2017 cars will be running in Suzuka in sunshine for the first time following wet and damp sessions so far and could radically alter both teams' performance,

"I think the biggest change for tomorrow will be the conditions - I think there should be sunshine which makes e🐷verything a bit hotter so we’ll h🐽ave to see how that goes."