163-0o0p.jpg)
Question: Sebastian, it really is all about timing and there was an awful amount to lose for the championship contenders, but you managed to get through.
Sebastian Vettel: Yes, it was a tricky session. A tough call in the end in Q3 after the first run on inters. The circuit looked dry but still the last sector, particularly, was very tricky but I think everyone decided in the end to go on drys. It was getting better and better but extremely difficult, slippery. At first I thought I missed pole by a tenth but then I saw there was another digit. It was a four instead of a five, so one second. Congratulations to Nico. It is very tricky in these conditions, very easy to make a mistake, so as you said we were targeting for pole, but Nico was better than all of us today. But still it was very tricky but I am very happy with second.
Question: Sebastian, there was always the possibility there might be a spoiler in there. A Robert Kubica or a Nico Rosberg or somebody like that. I guess you weren’t really expecting it to be Nico, though.
Sebastian Vettel: No. I think no-one did. But generally I am happy with qualifying. The last session was very tricky, challenging. But at the same time a bit angry as I think if you get a second gap to the guy ahead it is not frustrating, but it is a statement. But he did a very good job today. I think we have seen yesterday, you know if you look at the beginning when the track was green, the Williams generally is a good car but still you need to put the laps together. It was not a lucky lap at all. If you out-qualify everyone by a second it means something. He did it probably three times in a row. But to come back as I said, happy with second. It could have been anything this afternoon. We knew that going into qualifying but then it was a tight call at the end. We decided for dry and it was the right decision. Generally happy with the lap. Unfortunately a little bit unlucky with traffic. Once I had the yellow corner at the last corner and I had to back off and the last sector was the most tricky one as it was the wettest. The second lap I had I went straight and the third lap I got it someway round. Still I think it would not have been enough to get on pole. Let’s see. Tomorrow is a long race. We should have a good race car.
Click Here to Read More
Formula 1: Nico Hulkenberg Grabs Pole For Brazilian Grand Prix
Formula 1: Brazilian Grand Prix - Race Line-Up
F1 Standings Ahead of Brazilian Grand Prix
Question: Is second on quite a dirty side here?
Sebastian Vettel: Oh, I don’t think so. If I’m not wrong, didn’t Rubens start from P2 last year? (No.) So, I was wrong. I think it should be fine. With a lot of rain today, it has maybe put some dust on the track or maybe cleaned it. Generally this year the circuit was very clean. Yesterday, to start with, all the drivers were very happy, so it should be good.
Question: And of course you were very quick in the dry yesterday. Are you expecting dry tomorrow?
Sebastian Vettel: We do, yeah. I hope that it isn’t mixed conditions because then it will be a boring race for Nico. It should be dry, and as I said, I expect to have a good car. I think we did some changes overnight which didn’t work today, obviously, but it should be fine for tomorrow.
Question: How much do you race your championship rivals and perhaps not take any notice of Nico?
Sebastian Vettel: I have to take notice of him, he’s ahead of me. If he was starting from P8 I probably wouldn’t notice that much, but he’s ahead so he’s a challenger, so we are racing against him. The race is long, a lot of things can happen, you don’t know. We know that we should be quicker in the race. Our car is quite a bit quicker than the Williams, but we still need to find out tomorrow, so focus on having a good start and then, as I said, it’s a long race, a lot of things can happen around here. A safety car is not impossible. If you have it at the right time it can help you, at the wrong time… and if you’re unlucky it can ruin your race. There are a lot of things we need to watch out for. It’s a long race. Regarding the championship, I don’t bother too much. I do my two races, starting with this one, so the focus is on tomorrow’s race. I try to optimise my performance. I think there’s a lot of you guys telling me if it’s looking good or looking bad afterwards.
Question: Do prefer a race with conditions like that, a little bit wet or do you prefer a dry race?
Sebastian Vettel: It’s not in our hands, so I don’t really care. I think we have a competitive car in dry and wet, so we should be doing well.
Question: Sebastian, how do you rate the position of Fernando, considering tomorrow’s race?
Sebastian Vettel: He’s fifth, so he starts behind Mark, he starts from fifth. There’s not much more to rate. To be honest there’s 71 laps here and I think that if you look back at the races over the last three years it has always been very entertaining and I think no-one predicted the outcome of the race as it happened in the end. So he starts fifth. That’s it for today, tomorrow we will see.
Question: Seb, would you give way if that scenario was real?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, I think, to be totally frank, there are so many scenarios possible that I could give you an answer to any scenario but I think we would still be here tonight and I think it’s probably wiser for me to go to sleep at some point in order to be recovered for tomorrow. It’s a long race. It depends on situations. In the end we are both fighting for the championship, we are fighting for the team, for the Constructors’. So we will see. It’s a long race and you always need to act according to the situation. We will see.
| 
|