Question: Sebastian, three poles this season for you and four out of four for Red Bull. You are making a nice habit of winning the qualifying battle.
Sebastian Vettel: It was tough today. I was not so happy yesterday and this morning especially Mark was quite a bit quicker than me. We did some changes, so we went a little bit in Mark’s direction. It was extremely difficult and I was struggling in the first sector especially but now going out of qualifying I was purple in sector one, so I think we did a good step forward. I found a better line in the end, remembering last year a little bit. I think I lost the way a little bit in free practice. But I had two very good runs in Q3. In the last corner in the first run I was a little bit too wide, otherwise it would have been a very good time, but the second one was just a bit better everywhere and it was a fantastic lap. As you said, fourth consecutive pole position for Red Bull. We have proved that we have a very fast car and it seems independent of the circuit type we are always able to be up there, so I am very, very pleased with the day. Especially thanks to the mechanics as they had zero lunch as we required a lot of changes. They had to work from the end of free practice to qualifying, so thanks for that. Let’s see tomorrow. It might be wet, so let’s see.
Question: Sebastian, the race tomorrow. We might see rain. It could be a very interesting race. Will you be looking into your mirrors for your team-mate going into the first turn?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, I think it will be raining tomorrow, it is just a question when really. Similar to the last two races. Bahrain was pretty straightforward, but we are not afraid of any rain. But for Sunday it looks quite bad if you look at the weather. It will rain, the question is will it be wet the whole race throughout or after the start at some point, so we will see but we have good memories to the wet conditions last year, both of us. If the rain comes it is best to start at the front, which we do, as you are the ones who see the best, so that is quite important. So no matter what, dry or wet, we should be well armed for tomorrow.
Question: Sebastian, looking at last year, looking at form this year, you must be very, very confident for tomorrow, particularly it was wet last year and it is likely to be wet tomorrow.
Sebastian Vettel: Well, I mean you are asking a lot of questions. We will have to see. It is a long race. The most important thing today was to do a good job which I think we did to bring the cars to the front row. For myself, I am extremely happy as especially this morning I wasn’t happy with the car and I was struggling myself in a couple of corners and lost quite a lot compared to Mark. But into quali(fying) the mechanics worked flat out from the end of P3 to the start of the qualifying session and we just got the car ready and it turned out to work. I am very pleased with the result. As I said, I was struggling a bit to find the right balance in the beginning of the qualifying as the car was different and I had to adapt, but I think in Q3 I had two very good runs. The first run in the last corner I went a bit too wide and lost quite a bit but the second run I was able to reproduce the lap, even a bit quicker everywhere, so I am very happy with the lap I did. A very good result. As you said, tomorrow it will rain. You will probably have to ask some of the local people, they know a bit more, but the good thing is that it doesn’t get colder tomorrow. I think Wednesday and Thursday was pretty cold, so it shouldn’t get colder but still it will rain, the questions like the last three races is when. It could be a wet race, a wet start or a dry start and then rain at some point. We will see. It is a good result today but the race is the important and where you score points, so most important is yet to come.
Question: Give us some idea of the changes you have made over the last couple of days as it sounds like it has been quite a lot?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, the last couple of days, we only ran yesterday and today. Yesterday I was more or less happy. We did some overnight changes and initially this morning we thought that they worked. You are always fighting the car but Mark was quite a bit quicker and partly we went a little bit towards his direction with the car settings but also I had to find lap time myself as I wasn’t up to speed especially in the first sector. In quali at some point you know, you can see if you compare the data and so on, what probably the other guy is doing, but it is not easy to do just the same. In the end you are not a copy of someone else. We are both individuals and everyone does it a bit differently. I am sure if we would look into Fernando’s data then we would see he is doing it his way and still it turns out we are a couple of hundredths. I remembered a bit of last year, obviously it worked well last year here and finally at the right time in Q3 it seemed to work.
Question: In the middle sector you seemed to be a little bit down but ended with a margin of a quarter-of-a-second ahead of Mark. What happened in the middle sector?
Sebastian Vettel: I don’t think I was a lot down. I think it was only a couple of thousandths.
Question: Was it? Okay.
Sebastian Vettel: I mean it was basically the same but in the end I managed to put everything together. It is extremely difficult. A bit too much here and there, especially in those type of corners, turn one, two three, then the exit three/four, and the corner on the back straight. It is very easy to go just a bit too much and then you run a little bit wide, then you lose so much time. I am quite happy it worked in the end.
Question: Is it seems that you have become the new superstar of Formula One, especially in Germany, as people think Michael Schumacher is out of date. What do you think of that?
Sebastian Vettel: Fantastic question! I don’t consider myself as a superstar. It’s more the famous politicians and pop stars. I see myself as a racing driver, something that I have been dreaming of since I was young. It’s nice to be here, part of Formula One, and obviously it’s even much nicer when you sit here, so I really enjoy what I’m doing and I’m proud to be next to guys like Fernando, Mark, whosoever. For sure, in Germany, the greatness of Michael is untouched. I know that I’m German, I know that I come from Germany but it would be quite ridiculous to compare myself – at the stage that I am now – with someone like Michael. He’s a legend, he’s one of the best the sport has ever seen. There’s obviously a long way to go. I think, as everyone else, I try to do the best for myself and we are all individuals, so that’s the only thing I can say really.
Question: You haven’t been in Formula One long; what have you learned from your success or failure and do you think you have grown up?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, if you compare me to Michael as you did before, I’m a greenhorn, you know? I’ve only been here for three or three and a half years, it’s not a long time. I have to keep my visor closed, otherwise it’s gone! I’m obviously not the oldest on the grid. At the moment, as I said, I’m enjoying what I’m doing a lot. I don’t know where we will be in five, ten years. At the moment, I would say hopefully in Formula One if teams sign me. You never know. Formula One changes quickly as does life, so things can change quickly.
Question: Just continuing the question before: you are very modest but are you conscious that you are already the man of the year, the man of this world championship?
Sebastian Vettel: Definitely not. We’ve had four races, I think all of us up here have to stay on the ground, you know. Everything can still happen. Just before we came here, I read that some people don’t think that it’s still a fight within four teams, but I think it is. We’ve had three races, if you look at the points it could be zero as well, at least at the top, there’s not much difference. You see how quickly things change. I’ve had two failures this year; once I was lucky still to finish. Fernando, just before the end of the race in Malaysia had to retire, so things can happen, as I said, and they can change quickly, so you have to be there consistently until the last race in Abu Dhabi and then you see who has got the most points. When there are only a couple of races left, you can see who is probably fighting for the championship and who is not mathematically, but right now everyone can still win, so there’s a long, long way. Not only us but also the teams have to push to make sure that you stay at the top. If you don’t move forwards in Formula One it’s like going backwards. I think it’s still very early.
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