GreenBkk.com Formula 1 | Sebastian Vettel Q&A: I got the maximum out of the car

Sebastian Vettel Q&A: I got the maximum out of the car

On Saturday at Monza Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel scored his tenth pole position of the season. What made it so special for Vettel and his team is that the RB7 was supposed to struggle at the Italian track. The German, however, has supreme confidence in his car…

Q: Sebastian, how does it feel to clinch another pole position? It’s your tenth of the season.

Sebastian Vettel: It definitely feels fantastic. For the last two years this track was somehow working against us, so today was really great. And let’s hope it stays this way until the chequered tomorrow! Of course I still have fond memories of my race win with Toro Rosso here in 2008 - and I definitely want to repeat that moment - and not repeat the moments I had in 2009 or 2010!

Q: Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has said that clinching pole here feels like Christmas. It must feel very special…

SV: Yes. I just mentioned that we have left this track two years in a row with a somewhat bitter taste in our mouths so clinching pole position was the first step to, hopefully, a great result. We probably didn’t really believe that we could be so competitive here so P1 is something special – there’s no doubt about that. To leave a mark when you least expect it always feels great. I think for today we can leave the track in high spirits, but we all know that Saturdays never bring any points.

Q: You beat McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton by almost half a second. Was it a perfect lap?

SV: Yes, that gap was a huge surprise for us as we don’t have the fastest car. I am always cautious speaking about perfect laps, but yes, the lap felt good as I was able to squeeze everything out of the car. Or let’s say that there wasn’t a lot left in the car to do any better. Even if the track looks a bit simple with so many straights it’s a huge challenge. There is so little down force and grip compared to other tracks, so to get through the corners and brake exactly on each braking point and to drift perfectly through the chicanes is truly special.

Q: So a win here would trigger the same emotions that you felt three years ago?

SV: It definitely would, especially as it is not really one of ‘our’ tracks. What makes me really confident for the race is that I feel we have the right approach towards the race set-up. In fact we’ve concentrated more on the race set-up than on the qualifying set-up. That it worked so fantastic ally today gives all of us a real high.

Q: You just mentioned that you don’t have the fastest car. Is there a worry that at the start one of the McLarens could outrun you? It is a long way down to the first corner and their KERS works pretty well…

SV: I’m not worried at all. We are in a good position - it couldn’t be better to be honest - and it is a long race, where a lot of things can happen and we all know that a race is not won on the first lap! I think our approach with the low wing should work to our advantage in the race, just as it did in qualifying.

Q: Your team mate Mark Webber mentioned he had a KERS problems on his car in qualifying. Have you been haunted by this issue as well?

SV: No, everything was fine with me. I have no idea what happened to Mark’s car. We have been talking in the lunch break about our qualifying strategy and in Q3 were both supposed to have two runs. I had two runs but he didn’t so obviously that was his KERS problem. But I am sure his guys will fix it. It’s true that we had some KERS issues at the beginning of the year, but lately this issue vanished almost completely so I am sure that it will not be a problem in the race for both of us.

Q: Do you think you could lead from lights to flag on Sunday?

SV: It would be nice, of course. But races are hardly ever that way. What I think is that overtaking will be more difficult here than at other tracks. More difficult than two weeks ago in Spa. Keep your fingers crossed!

Credit: Formula One Administration Ltd (www.formula1.com)