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Question: Sebastian, you said all along this week that the new regulations on engine mapping wouldn’t affect Red Bull and as you are on pole I assume you are correct.
Sebastian Vettel: I didn’t say that. There was obviously a lot of talk beforehand going into this grand prix and there will be a lot of talk before the next grand prix. But everyone will lose out something. People expect us to lose more than others but that’s where I disagree. All in all a very good day for us. Very good to have the front row for our team. It will be a long race tomorrow. It is always tough here. It is a tricky circuit, there are so many corners. We have got 25 before we cross the line again and especially in qualifying to get every single corner right is very, very difficult. So to get the perfect lap in is quite tough. But I think my first run was quite good. I was very happy and Mark obviously in the second run. It is a good result and a good point to start from tomorrow so we will see what we can do.
Question: Sebastian, you have already alluded to it being a long race tomorrow. A double drag reduction zone system as it was in Canada. How easy will it be for you to protect that pole position?
Sebastian Vettel: Well it depends where you are exactly, as you say. Obviously if you are in the front and the people are close enough behind then it is tricky. And it is tricky not only once, but twice here. Valencia is a street circuit but still they are quite long straights and for those two zones it will be important tomorrow to have enough of a gap or if you are behind to be close enough to try something. Both times you have a reasonable hard stop so you can try something under braking so we will see. At the moment it is not yet clear how many stops we will have and how efficient overtaking will be so we will see what happens. As I say it is a long race and it will be quite hot tomorrow.
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Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Nabs Pole For European Grand Prix
Formula 1: European Grand Prix - Race Line Up
Question: Sebastian, was this Red Bull’s answer to the regulation changes?
Sebastian Vettel: Well I mean as we touched on earlier there has been a lot of talk but for us we never really understood why. We had to focus on what we have to do here and that’s it. I think we had a good qualifying session. Generally I think a good build-up throughout the weekend. Picking up steadily some pace and, in my case, I felt more and more comfortable in the car. That was most important. It is nice today to sit here and to have the front row for us so it is a good start for tomorrow but it is a long race so we will have to go from there then.
Question: Interesting that you did seven laps in Q1 on the prime tyre. Probably the hottest conditions that you’ve used them and, of course, same time as it is going to be race time tomorrow.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, we did a couple of laps, probably more than we needed to, but in the end it is free running and it is nice to get a feel for the car especially with the conditions as I think the circuit has changed from morning to afternoon so I was quite happy that I wasn’t called in and I could have a couple of laps to get the eye in.
Question: What is your feeling between the prime and the option for tomorrow for the race?
Sebastian Vettel: Big difference I would say. If you look at the lap times only, for the whole field it is somewhere in the region of one to 1.5 seconds or for some even more seconds so it is a big step. If you are in Q3 the option tyre was the favoured one as usual. But I think tomorrow for strategy and so on it will be quite interesting. Maybe we will see a different approach at different times so we will have to go from there. So first off, as I said, we need a good start and then we see where we are. You see whether you have a gap you can afford to wait a lap or not whether you have to try to pass someone but tyres are pretty far from each other.
Question: Sebastian, we couldn’t hear much passion between you and your team when you secured pole. There was like ‘Sebastian, good job, pole position’, ‘yes, thanks’: not much. Is it something that you’re so used to that there’s no passion any more?
Sebastian Vettel: I think that’s wrong, it was a little bit odd because I stopped the second run a lap early, came in and then had to focus that I did everything right and stopped the car. Yeah, I was waiting for the call, obviously, and then I had to switch off the car, so I didn’t have a lot of time, so I just said ‘congratulations’ also to them. It depends on the moment. When you’re cruising on the circuit you have time to talk then you are obviously giving a bit more room to yourself to celebrate.
Question: But were you anticipating it, you knew you were going to get it?
Sebastian Vettel: No, I knew on the second run that obviously it was a little bit quicker but not by much so I wanted to save a lap on the tyres and came in and then I didn’t know… Mark improved and so on, but as I said, I was already stopped in parc fermé and didn’t really know.
Question: Seb, after what happened in Canada, I think the world of Formula One has been slightly clutching at straws and thinking ‘ah, the first sign of weakness. Will it prey on your mind?’ Has it preyed on your mind? You don’t get any points for being on pole but is this a nice beginning to a reaction to what happened in Montreal, what you’ve done today?
Sebastian Vettel: In that very moment, I was obviously disappointed. I think you could see it, I wasn’t the happiest guy at that moment, Jenson was. It was a long race, it was easy to make mistakes and not everyone finished so looking back, it was very important to finish that race and collect a lot of points. Surely it took a little while, but to be honest, by Monday, Tuesday, it was history and you start looking forward to the next race. A championship doesn’t come down to one race or two races. Of course I would have loved to win but it didn’t happen, so we start from zero again here.
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