Chinese GP: Post Race Interview With Sebastian Vettel

Question: Sebastian, beaten off the line by both McLarens but you quickly got the lead back again. Did you feel at any stage that a two stop strategy might have been the wrong choice today?

Sebastian Vettel: Well I think the start was not the best we had this year On top of that it seems that for some reason the left hand side here is worse than the right hand side, plus the fact that you turn right doesn’t help. But it was not a 100 per cent good start so I lost also the position to Lewis who started behind me. Then it was about being patient. I think we treated the tyres better in the first stint and could have stayed out but there is no point doing that as you try to pit earlier. I came to the box and afterwards came out first, which was good. But it was quite a surprise seeing Jenson in front of me when he went into my garage. I just hoped for him to carry on. We had something similar two years ago with the Toro Rosso. I don’t know what attracts people to stop in our garage but fortunately it had no affect. The guys kept their heads cool, we kept going and, as I said, we came out into the lead. Then I think we probably tried too hard staying on two stops so the middle stint ideally should have been a bit longer but in the end you find yourself out there on the hard tyre. I saw Lewis coming closer and closer and there was no point really. I tried to defend as much as I could without losing too much time to the guys behind but he found his way past easily. It was a difficult race for us. We did a couple of mistakes, on top of that we had some problems, but still we finished second so I am very, very happy with that. First of all, congratulations to Lewis and to McLaren. They did a very good job and it shows one race, you try something a bit different and if you do mistakes it is natural and there is someone else to beat you. I think it was a good race for us as we can learn a lot today. I am the only one with two stops up here so there is surely something to look into tonight.

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Question: Just how difficult was it given the lack of communication you had with the pit-wall in the latter stages?

Sebastian Vettel: It didn’t make it easier. Usually you exchange information, how the tyres are, what the other guys do, what tyres they are on and so on. I asked a lot of questions but did not get any answers. We had a problem with communication. On top of that we had some problems with the KERS during the race. It wasn’t a trouble free race. Mark obviously had a good race, very good pace, so the pace was there. It was there all weekend but once we decided to go to two stop you have to be patient, look after your tyres and when it doesn’t work it doesn’t work. That’s why I think we missed that one step today.

Question: Sebastian, there was only one retirement. Can I ask you about traffic. Was it really busy out there?

Sebastian Vettel: As usual I would say. The track is fairly long so it spreads out, but it depends which cars you talk about. There are some cars you come across a bit more often than others so it wasn’t too busy.

Question: After your run of wins is second a disappointment?

Sebastian Vettel: To be honest I don’t think so. I have not seen all that happened but from the bit that I saw I think there is a very important lesson to be learnt today. The strategy that I picked was not the one that was meant to be the best but these things happen. You never know until you cross the line. If the race is a little bit shorter, if the tyres are holding, we are talking two laps every stint holding together a little bit more, then it could be different. But in the end I was struggling a lot. You just wait to turn the car around, wait to get on power as you haven’t got much tyres left. It was quite a nice fight with Lewis, twice down the long straight I was able to just stay ahead and also for the next corner but I saw that there were seven laps to go so not much that I could do. To be honest I was quite surprised by his move into turn seven. I think he did a very good there and surprised me. Congratulations to them. I think we have given it our best and I don’t see second today as a disappointment. Mark proved the car was very quick today. For us with a different strategy you cannot always show everything you have. First stint I was very happy. Even though we lost the start, being third, I had the feeling I could have gone a bit longer but for strategy reasons you pit earlier. But all in all we are happy with second. First was not meant to be so second is the best we could do today.

Question: Looking at the start, did you use KERS at the start?

Sebastian Vettel: I did, but to be honest, my initial launch was not 100 per cent. I probably had problems to really start going; you feel that inside the car. It’s hard to wait then and I was probably a bit too aggressive later on. You can’t use KERS straight away, you have to wait until you reach 100kph, so I saw that I immediately lost a position to Jenson, which wasn’t nice and then Lewis behind. I tried to defend hard into turn one, but at some point you have to give up and let the guy go. As I said, in general, the fight with him today was very fair. It was quite entertaining and good fun from that side.

Question: Sebastian, you were leading and I wonder if you remember what the team told you on the radio on lap 29, and are you going to change the nickname of your car to get more luck in the race?

Sebastian Vettel: Whether I remember on lap 29 what the team told me over the radio? And if I’m still happy with the name of the car? No, I think we have to keep our feet on the ground. I do. We’ve had three races, we’ve finished first, first and second. There’s not a lot of room for improvements. Obviously, today, we could have been one step better but Lewis and McLaren were too strong and not within reach for us, with the strategy that we used today. I’m very happy. To be honest, with the radio, I have no clue what I was told because some bits I heard, other bits I didn’t. As I said, I think they asked some questions, didn’t get any answer and the other way around. Sometimes it worked. Fortunately, the pit board was always there, and looking for the pit stops, I got the call to box. But these days, with the racing that we have, it’s quite important to have the communications and if one step doesn’t work it’s not really a pleasure. As I said, I’m happy with the name of the car. She behaves well.

Question: Sebastian, if you had been first at the start, would you have done a three-stop strategy and secondly, what did you think when, at the first pit stop, Jenson Button tried to park in your spot?

Sebastian Vettel: If we could have stayed ahead at the start I think the race could have been different, probably not the first two or three laps but after that I felt quite comfortable in the position that I was. On the other hand, you obviously need to remember that Jenson, who was leading at that stage, is not able to use the DRS. I was always fairly close to Lewis and it is around half a second that you gain just by doing that. But as I said earlier, I had the feeling that I could have gone longer but there was no point, for strategy reasons. So, if we would have stayed ahead, we would probably have been able to pull a gap and then react to the people behind, too, and then maybe it would have been a bit more clear to us - what to do, two stops or three stops. The first time I came in I was fairly close to Jenson, obviously he was the race leader. I just got past Lewis on the back straight and came in to pit and I thought “what’s going on”, because I looked at my box, but I have to say, I stayed quite calm. He pulled over and into my slot, so I was just hoping for the front jack man to react and to indicate to him to keep going, you’re wrong. I lost a little bit of time because I waited, I didn’t want to stop then and then go again. Fortunately, Jenson realised and I could do my pit stop. It’s not easy for the guys, as I said earlier, it’s very easy to lose the rhythm, wrong car and imagine if they’ve changed the tyres. Then it’s a big mess and I have to go one spot further to McLaren and ask them: ‘hello’. If I would have come in at the same time with Lewis and if he was supposed to get his new set it would have been nice, but that way, no way.

Question: Sebastian, how much does the KERS affect your result today?

Sebastian Vettel: We had some trouble in the race and for the majority of the race, unfortunately, we had to do without KERS, so the first stint was fine but then we lost it fairly early after that. Yes, it’s a big hit, obviously. Here you have the long straight, the back straight, where it has a big effect, so it surely doesn’t help if you try to pull away.

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