Vettel: Right now we are a bit clueless

Sebastian Vettel is not quite sure where Ferrari are going to find the speed to close the 1.9 seconds gap between them and the pace setting Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, who dominated practice on day one of the European Grand Prix at the brand new Baku Street Circuit.

When asked where he hoped to find the speed, Vettel said, "Right now we are a bit clueless, but a Friday on a brand new track is always important to get a feeling for it and to get into the right rhythm. And I guess I found that rhythm in my last couple of laps. Maybe I needed the first session to warm up. I believe that we can improve."

And added, "I said often before: Friday is not really significant. Yes, we have still to look for time. The car felt good, but the time did not - we know that there is still work ahead for us."

As for the Baku circuit, running through the old and newer section of the city, combining long straights and some wide corners as well as some very trick and narrow lanes which caught out most of the drivers at some point during the day.

"Pretty cool and not easy!" Vettel summed up. "It took a bit of time to find your way around. It’s fun, especially the high-speed sections."

"Probably to find the perfect braking point as you have no reference at all. The timing has to be pretty perfect here. The kerbs are not that important here and the slower part along the city wall - even if it is pretty tight - is not so demanding, which is not what we had expected from the simulator."

"The fast corners, on the contrary, are not as easy as we had guessed. All in all it is a super track that feels pretty good," decalred the four times F1 world champion.

"We’ve done quite a lot of laps without any serious issues but as I said before, the speed as missing a bit. We are simply not quick enough. I know that we have the speed, I just hope that we will find it tomorrow!"

Finally when asked if he was confident for qualifying, despite the apparent lack of pace on day one, Vettel joked, "If I am not? What then? Go home? Of course I am confident, as I believe in this team and this car. And sometimes I also believe in myself!"