Sebastian Vettel Q&A: The car feels fantastic
Even if Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel doesn’t take the drivers’ title this weekend, one thing that will be remembered for years to come will be his qualifying successes during the 2010 season. And after clinching his tenth pole position in 19 races at Abu Dhabi, Vettel is certainly happy with his car around the Yas Marina circuit…
Q: Sebastian, you went out last and took pole position. Your cold-blooded approach seemed to work…
Sebastian Vettel: We thought it would be a good strategy. We probably should have done it differently, but in the end everything worked out. I have taken the last pole position of the season - and it feels great to be the pole sitter. It was a very tight qualifying session but the car felt fantastic. We have made a big step forward since Friday afternoon and I would say that we’ve achieved the maximum. Tomorrow is another day so let’s see what it will bring.
Q: McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton is in P2. There has been so much speculation about who will do what under what circumstances, but nobody really foresaw that Hamilton would be on the front row. Does it bode well for you?
SV: We will know after the race whether it was the best scenario or not. I am not a prophet! We will be focusing on ourselves and it is no secret that it is always better to start from pole than from P2. Let’s see what happens on the first lap. The car feels good - and it felt good on Friday with a heavy fuel load - so I should be in good shape.
Q:Are you surprised Fernando Alonso is in third and your team mate Mark Webber is so far adrift?
LH: I am not surprised. It was a very tight qualifying and the changes of positions in Q1 and Q2 indicated that we would see a fierce battle for pole position.
Q: Hamilton has said that he has nothing to lose and will go about this race very aggressively. How will you deal with that?
SV: I hope that he stays away from my rear tyre. He has been very close at times this season. (Laughs). I would say that I am in a similar position to him, although in terms of the championship I’m in a better position than him. I will also race hard and ideally I’ll finish the race where I started it.
Q: Your confidence must have been boosted after taking pole position…
SV: No more than before! Our position is not the easiest one and the title result is not entirely in our hands. It’s not just down to the race result. We need a bit of luck, but we believe that it will come our way.
Q: So what will make the difference on Sunday?
SV: Like at every race - you’ll need to have a good start, have pace throughout the race, hope that the car works perfectly, to look after the tyres and hope that you don’t get involved in any calamities.
Q: You may have some support from your team mate?
SV: It is funny how the tables turn. On Friday I was confronted with those kind of questions and now it is Mark who has to answer them! I think that we both will do our own race and in my case the strategy is very clear. I start from pole position. My goal is to win this race and we’ll see about everything else. Not everything is in my hands.
Q: So what’s your strategy for the race?
SV: You don’t really expect me to tell that, do you? What I can say is that I told my strategy guy to find me a strategy to win the race. I also told him that last weekend in Brazil and it worked!
Q: Sebastian, you went out last and took pole position. Your cold-blooded approach seemed to work…
Sebastian Vettel: We thought it would be a good strategy. We probably should have done it differently, but in the end everything worked out. I have taken the last pole position of the season - and it feels great to be the pole sitter. It was a very tight qualifying session but the car felt fantastic. We have made a big step forward since Friday afternoon and I would say that we’ve achieved the maximum. Tomorrow is another day so let’s see what it will bring.
Q: McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton is in P2. There has been so much speculation about who will do what under what circumstances, but nobody really foresaw that Hamilton would be on the front row. Does it bode well for you?
SV: We will know after the race whether it was the best scenario or not. I am not a prophet! We will be focusing on ourselves and it is no secret that it is always better to start from pole than from P2. Let’s see what happens on the first lap. The car feels good - and it felt good on Friday with a heavy fuel load - so I should be in good shape.
Q:Are you surprised Fernando Alonso is in third and your team mate Mark Webber is so far adrift?
LH: I am not surprised. It was a very tight qualifying and the changes of positions in Q1 and Q2 indicated that we would see a fierce battle for pole position.
Q: Hamilton has said that he has nothing to lose and will go about this race very aggressively. How will you deal with that?
SV: I hope that he stays away from my rear tyre. He has been very close at times this season. (Laughs). I would say that I am in a similar position to him, although in terms of the championship I’m in a better position than him. I will also race hard and ideally I’ll finish the race where I started it.
Q: Your confidence must have been boosted after taking pole position…
SV: No more than before! Our position is not the easiest one and the title result is not entirely in our hands. It’s not just down to the race result. We need a bit of luck, but we believe that it will come our way.
Q: So what will make the difference on Sunday?
SV: Like at every race - you’ll need to have a good start, have pace throughout the race, hope that the car works perfectly, to look after the tyres and hope that you don’t get involved in any calamities.
Q: You may have some support from your team mate?
SV: It is funny how the tables turn. On Friday I was confronted with those kind of questions and now it is Mark who has to answer them! I think that we both will do our own race and in my case the strategy is very clear. I start from pole position. My goal is to win this race and we’ll see about everything else. Not everything is in my hands.
Q: So what’s your strategy for the race?
SV: You don’t really expect me to tell that, do you? What I can say is that I told my strategy guy to find me a strategy to win the race. I also told him that last weekend in Brazil and it worked!
Credit: Formula One Administration Ltd (http://www.formula1.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment