Sebastian Vettel was left rueing his conservative approach to Turn 1 during his final attempt in qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix, saying he "chickened out" and cost himself pole.
Vettel was just 0.058s ahead of Bottas after the preliminary runs in Q1 but lost time through the first sector of his final run. Vettel crossed the line and failed to improve, with Bottas crossing moments later just 0.03s quicker than the Ferrari driver to snatch his third career pole.
With such slender margins separating first and second on the grid Vettel refused to blame anyone but himself.