Sebastian Vettel: Ferrari chief HITS OUT after 'unacceptable' qualifying session
SEBASTIAN VETTEL will start ninth on the grid at the Japanese Grand Prix tomorrow - and Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene is NOT happy.
Lewis Hamilton gained his 80th career pole at Suzuka to further tighten his grip on the 2018 Drivers' Championship title.
Vettel and Ferrari struggled in Q3 earlier today after the team chose to put intermediate tyres on both cars believing that heavy rain was about to appear.
The Italian outfit changed both Vettel and Raikkonen to slicks just minutes before the rain finally arrived, leaving both drivers struggling.
Championship challenger Vettel refused to criticise his team after the session but chief Arrivabene labelled the mistake 'unacceptable'.
I do not feel like pointing my fingers at someone in particular, but I'm very disappointed
"From the way things were done, I do not think that pole position was within our reach, but what happened today is unacceptable," he told Autosport.
"I am very angry.
"It is not the first time that these mistakes have occurred.
"I do not feel like pointing my fingers at someone in particular, but I'm very disappointed."
Ferrari have endured a number of team mistakes in recent races, which have hindered Vettel's title chances.
But Arrivabene took solace in the fact he knew exactly what wrong earlier today.
"Unlike on other occasions, it was easy to understand what was happening on the track, as all our opponents left the pits with slicks," he added.
"Sometimes it is more useful to take your eyes off computers and watch the track, using common sense.
"It is true that we are a young team, and we are probably missing an 'old hand', an experienced person capable of reading situations correctly and quickly."
Vettel is 50 points behind Hamilton in the battle for the title with five races remaining.
"I don't think there was that much missing," he said.
"It's correct that maybe we've been on the wrong side a couple of times, but I don't think there was an awful big gap or an awful lot to get wrong.
"It's not been going in our favour, which of course we need to understand why if others did something better."