Vettel still baffled by slow qualifying pace

MONZA, Italy, Sept 6, 2012 (AFP) - Sebastian Vettel said Red Bull were still baffled by his lack of pace during qualifying at Spa last weekend and
are hoping to avoid a repeat performance at this weekend's Italian Grand Prix.

The defending driver's champion failed to make it to Q3 in Belgium last weekend, his best lap time almost a second slower than pace-setter and
race-winner Briton Jenson Button of McLaren. 

And although Vettel fought his way through the field and eventually finished the race second, closing the gap to championship leader Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Ferrari to just 24 points, he admitted the Milton Keynes-based outfit were still not sure what had caused his lack of pace.

"There's only been three or four days in between," explained Vettel,

"qualifying was disappointing, but Sunday afternoon was okay and just before qualifying on Saturday morning was fine. "Why? There is still not a one hundred percent bulletproof answer, as there was nothing wrong with our qualifying.

"It didn't feel as if there was an awful lot more in the lap, so there is still a bit of a question mark."

The 25-year-old, who won last year's race at the classic Italian circuit added that he was expecting another unpredictable weekend at Monza.

"It is like every other weekend so far," he said, "it's a bit difficult to know now. It has been fairly unpredictable and there's no reason why it should
change for this weekend.

"We were very competitive here last year, not so much the previous year so, it's a bit difficult at this stage to know what to expect."