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Question: Sebastian, a crucial pole at a crucial time. You have a great chance now of becoming the youngest ever World Champion.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, we start from pole, couldn’t be better. I think it was a tough qualifying session. We knew that the conditions would be tricky. At night the temperatures drop a little bit. Yesterday in the afternoon, or the late evening, in the practice we didn’t look too good and we were not 100 per cent happy but I think we made a big step today which allowed us to fight for the pole. I think it was very close with Lewis especially. In the end I think if we would have done two runs it would probably have been the better choice. I was surprised how much the circuit ramped up for us in the end but nonetheless we went out last and we did it. A very good job today by everyone, the whole team. It was a tight session, so now looking forward to tomorrow and see what happens.
Question: That is 10 poles for you this season. It has been an amazing year.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, definitely. I had some kind of statistic the other day in front of me, how many poles per season some drivers have done. Guys like Senna, Prost, Michael (Schumacher). They are all up there and with 10 poles I am not at the top, so maybe we can work on that next year. But still it has been a phenomenal qualifying, no problems and always the car was very competitive. Very pleased. And 10 poles in qualifying in one season is a great effort and shows how good our car is.
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Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Grabs Pole at Abu Dhabi
Formula 1: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Race Line-Up
Question: Sebastian, it is the title decider tomorrow. What are your thoughts going into this huge day?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, looking forward to the race. I like this track. Last year I had a very good experience here and the car was fantastic and I think in the race the car is even stronger, so we will see. As Fernando and Lewis said it is a long race and anything can happen, so we have to go step by step. Today we did the best job we can. We are in front of everyone else. If we make sure we stay there tomorrow I think we do our maximum and then see what happens.
Question: Sebastian, given the championship position and given the situation you are on pole position, there are another three guys who would love that pole, how does it feel?
Sebastian Vettel: Good.
Question: How good?
Sebastian Vettel: Very good. I think it was a tough qualifying session today. Last year it was tricky here already with the conditions changing so much between the, you call it the morning but it is the afternoon and evening. We knew it would be tricky and no-one really knew what to expect, which tyre would work best. It was tricky. Usually you see short runs, people going out one lap, one lap and it is different here. The circuit ramped up a lot. In the end in Q3 I did only one run. We waited for three and a half minutes and then we went out. Three laps. It was tight but it was enough. In hindsight I think probably it would have been a little bit quicker if we had done two runs but if there is anybody to blame it is myself as I thought it might be too risky on the options if the first lap is not ready and the tyres are not there yet. I decided for one run and it worked, so in the end I think we did a very good job and got the maximum. Just mentioning before, 10 pole positions in one season is not too bad, so whatever comes now I think it is a bonus anyway. That is what we keep telling the last couple of races. My season has been up and down and we should be in a different position and we are not. Still we are in a strong position. We put the car on pole here which is crucial for tomorrow’s race. It is long race, a lot of things can happen. We will see. The car seems quick, so looking forward. I don’t know, is there a car you can win this year? That would be a nice surprise like last year, so looking forward.
Question: Does this relieve a bit of the pressure that is on you or are you not feeling any pressure?
Sebastian Vettel: It is always tight when you know you have the car to put the car on the front row, ideally on pole. I think here it was very close, especially with Lewis at the end. I think only three or four hundredths between us. It was tight and when I was slowing down and they were still on their hot laps, as they decided to do two runs, I was trying to get feed-back as much as I could. At the end you just have to wait. You can’t change it. It was enough and that’s good. Pressure wise as I said before we know in which position we are. We are not leading this championship, so probably there is more pressure on Fernando and Mark (Webber). We do our maximum. We are in a similar position to Lewis and enjoying the drive here and trying to win tomorrow and the rest we will see.
Question: You got a good amount out of the car today as you said you changed it quite a lot from yesterday?
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, we did. I mean it wasn’t horrible. We were only two-tenths behind Lewis and McLaren. You don’t know the fuel loads and so on, but I think pace was okay. We were not happy probably on the qualifying pace but much happier on the race pace. Today we did a step forward. Nothing tremendous we have changed, nothing big. I think small steps that just allowed us to go a certain bit quicker. It is tricky here. Tricky track with the conditions. You need to stay awake all the time and I think we did yesterday, working hard and long into the night and it paid off, so we will see what happens tomorrow.
Question: Why did you have so many concerns about tyre warm-up? Is it due to the nature of the circuit here, is it the set-up?
Sebastian Vettel: It comes from the circuit. We saw last year that everyone did one run in Q1, one run in Q2, one run in Q3. This year the tyres are a little bit different, probably helping that a little bit and in the evening the temperatures drop, the ambient drops a lot, the circuit temperature is also dropping, not dramatically but obviously there’s no sun, no daylight anymore, so it changes a little bit. As I said, I think yesterday we were not as competitive as today and it was much better this evening, tonight, and yeah, I think in the end I could feel it probably as much as all the other cars. The circuit ramped up quite a lot. It was a tough call, but in the end all you need is one lap in qualifying, so we did one run and we committed to that and we still did it, so I think in hindsight we could do it again with the knowledge that we have now, we would decide to go for two runs in Q3, just because it gives you a bit more security, you have one set of tyres each time and you are able to push with a new set for only one lap and not trying to think about the next lap and maybe not pushing a bit too hard in the beginning and so on. I think usually it’s easier when it’s straightforward – one lap, one lap – but as I said, because of the conditions here and so on, it’s probably not as straightforward as other places.
Question: Sebastian, obviously the discussions of the last days and weeks at this stage seem to have become a little vain or useless. What will you feel if tomorrow you win the race and Red Bull won the Drivers’ Championship?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, it depends. If I win it, I will be very happy, if I don’t, then we will see who else wins it. As I told you, I think there are a lot of things between practice sessions. We were not as happy as today and obviously for me, I’m very happy today with the result. Obviously Mark struggled a lot in Q3. I don’t know yet what happened to him, because I think he was fairly close in Q1 and Q2. Again, we see how quickly things can change but I think the most important thing, as I said over the last couple of days, is to keep our head down and focus on us. We try to do what we can and the rest we will see or not.
Question: You are in a position where you rely on the results of others when it comes to the championship. I think you are probably quite relieved, being in the front, but how much will you look at the situation on the track during the race tomorrow?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, the main target is to finish the race tomorrow. That would be a good start, and obviously as high up as possible. As you say, it’s not dependent on me, so all I can do is maximise our performance. We have to focus on us and then it’s up to the others that have to deliver, so we take it step-by-step. It is what it is. We knew that before going to Brazil, before coming here, before starting the race here, the event. As usual, we focus on a good start. I think starts were good and then we see what happens. I told you on Thursday that it looks tight here, tighter than other places probably with Ferrari strong, McLaren very strong. It will be a long race and then after the race there are screens around the track I think there is time enough to see where the others have finished and if there is something to celebrate or not.
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