POSTED ON October 31st, 2011
Car 1 SEBASTIAN VETTEL, Finish Position: WINNER, Start Position: 1st “It was very good race for us and I enjoyed it. I had a bit of a fight with Jenson in the distance who was always around 4 seconds away, but strangely he kept closing in around the pit stops. I was pushing very hard into the box, but we seemed to lose a little bit there, which we need to understand. On the circuit it was crucial to manage the tyres and make sure we had enough left at the end, but it was a very smooth race. The car was very well balanced and it was a fantastic race today. Thanks to the whole team and to Renault, who have done an exceptional job so far this season. But I have mixed emotions today. I’m very proud to be the first winner of the Indian Grand Prix, but on the other hand we lost two of our mates recently. I didn’t know Dan Wheldon, but obviously he was a big name in motorsport. I got to know Marco Simoncelli this year and our thoughts are with their families at this time. We are ready to take certain risks, but obviously we pray that nothing happens; sometimes you get reminded and that’s the last thing we want to see. It’s a very impressive country here, very different to what we know in Europe, but very inspiring. If you keep your eyes and ears open, you can learn a lot from the way the people handle things here. It’s a big country with a lot of people, but they are happy and enjoy life, which is what it’s all about. At the end of your life, it’s friendships, emotions and thoughts that you take with you, rather than what’s in your bank account. So, even though people don’t have a lot here, they are a lot richer in many ways and we can learn from that. It’s been a great race, a great event and the circuit is fantastic, so thanks a lot to all the people in India.”
Car 2 MARK WEBBER, Finish Position: 4th, Start Position: 2nd “We lost the podium in the middle of the race really. It’s pretty much the general story of this year; I just don’t have the pace at the end of the stints, so I run out of tyres and then lose strategy, it means I have to pit earlier and it makes life harder. In the end, I wasn’t quick enough. I had a reasonable pace at the start of the stints, but as they go on, we go back into the clutches of the other guys. We were struggling a little bit with the balance at the end of the stints. It was a good fight with Fernando, but the McLarens and Ferraris were pretty strong in the first sector, Jenson got me on the first lap on the back straight. I was quick against him in the first few laps, but after that, as soon as you fight you chew up the tyres. So that’s the way it goes, disappointing, but now we go to Abu Dhabi. “
CHRISTIAN HORNER, Team Principal: “A brilliant result for the team to win the first ever Indian Grand Prix. Sebastian was inch-perfect today and drove an immaculate race with great strategy, good pit work and everything came right for him. Despite a lot of encouragement not to, he still managed to set another fastest lap on his final lap of the race. For Mark, it was more of a frustrating afternoon. Having initially made a good start, unfortunately Jenson managed to get past on the first lap and then he found himself in a race with Fernando. Approaching the second stop we were in a little more trouble with the tyres than Fernando, so we needed to pit and unfortunately the outlap performance of the hard tyre wasn’t strong enough to keep him ahead. Despite his best efforts, he didn’t manage to pass Fernando. Nevertheless first and fourth still retains our 100% reliability record. After claiming the team season pole position record yesterday, Sebastian has claimed a second record this weekend, by leading the most laps during the course of a grand prix season.”
CYRIL DUMONT, Renault: “Fantastic. I think again we had a magic Vettel this weekend. He did the first hat trick of his career – fastest lap, pole position and winning the race. I think he was on top of his game today and led the race from start to finish. I would also liked to have seen Mark on the podium today; I think he had the pace for that, but unfortunately the race was not that easy for him. I think it’s a fantastic result for the Renault Group also, to get the win at the first Indian Grand Prix is very important.”
Credit: Mark Webber (www.markwebber.com)
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