Vettel happy despite gap to pole

The Red Bull driver finished behind Williams's Nico Hulkenberg, who secured his maiden pole position after a superb performance on Saturday.

"It was a tricky session, and obviously a tough call in Q3," said Vettel. "It's tricky in these conditions and it's easy to do a mistake. We were targeting pole and he [Hulkenberg] was better for all of us today. I am happy with second."

Vettel conceded it was no luck that gave Hulkenberg, the young German finishing over a full second ahead of his closest rival.

Vettel added: "Generally I am happy with qualifying, but also angry because if there is a second gap to the guy ahead it is not frustrating but a statement. We saw yesterday at the beginning when the track was green that Williams was generally a quick car.

"It was not a lucky lap at all if you outqualify everyone by a second. He did it three times in a row. But I'm happy with second as it could have been anything this afternoon."

And Vettel said he will treat Hulkenberg as a serious rival despite the Williams not being as quick as the Red Bull in race trim.

"I have to take notice of him, he is ahead of me, he is ahead so he is a challenger and we are racing against him," he said. "The race is long, a lot of things can happen. We know we should be quicker in the race, as the car is a bit quicker than the Williams.

"We will focus on a good start and it is a long race, a lot of things can happen."