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Sebastian Vettel (1st)
“I’m very pleased, it was a very good weekend and I had a very nice car to sit in this afternoon. It was a good race - towards the end things calmed down a bit. Lewis didn’t push as hard, so we tried to control the last part of the race. I don’t think it was easy today. The start was crucial and being on the clean side I had a very good getaway. I didn’t know if it was enough, but then I saw Lewis and Mark battling for position. I got a cushion on lap one and we tried to hold the gap for the first stint. When the tyres went off, Lewis caught up and we came in. I think it was the right time, as I couldn’t have done more laps.After my first stop it was crucial to get past Jenson, which I did. That was important. In the second part of the race I didn’t know what was gong on behind Lewis, if he was under pressure or not, but towards the end of the race I could control it more. We learned a lot of things today. It’s good coming here after a long winter and setting the pace.”
Lewis Hamilton (2nd)
“Second position is a great result. The car felt fantastic, really nice to drive, and I was able to look after my tyres throughout the race. To be able to apply pressure to Sebastian so soon into the season was massively encouraging, too. I think we were competitive enough today to compete for the win. If it hadn’t been for the poor start, we could have been in the fight. So I think we should be excited. I don’t really know what happened with the floor, but it didn’t feel too bad to drive. After the race I had a look at it, and it looked quite badly damaged. I was just glad to be able to bring the car home, I was nursing it. Physically, though, that was one of the easiest races I’ve ever had. I came here feeling fitter than ever, so I’m looking forward to going to Malaysia, which is probably the toughest race of the year. I’m also looking forward to seeing what additional performance we can bring to the next race. The engineers know where there’s more performance to be gained, and we’ll get it to the track as soon as we can. I think we can challenge for the win at Sepang.”
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Formula 1: Pole Sitter Sebastian Vettel Wins Australian Grand Prix
Formula 1: Australian Grand Prix - Race Results
Vitaly Petrov (3rd)
“I’m delighted to be here on the podium, especially after the winter that we had as a team, which was very tough. Even during testing we didn’t really know where we were compared with the others, but we continued adding new parts to the car this weekend, and they worked pretty well. I made a great start today, which was probably the key for my race because it got me ahead of Alonso and Button, and I was able to run in some clean air and push hard, as well as looking after my tyres. Our two-stop strategy was clearly the right decision and we made it work. I have to say a big thanks to everyone in the team for working so hard and for supporting my over the winter. This result is for all of us and I’m totally ecstatic.”
Fernando Alonso (4th)
“If you just look at the classification, this is not such a bad result; yes we have lost ground to Vettel and Hamilton, although we have done better than Webber and Button. Here at Albert Park, it seems that I have a season ticket for fourth place, as it’s the third time in four years that I’ve finished the race in this position. Last year, we came here off the back of the win in Bahrain, which means that the same result then had a very different feel to it. Once again today, Vettel seemed to be on another planet, while the others were a bit closer, not to the extent they were on Friday, but at least not as far off as in qualifying yesterday. Finishing behind Petrov again like in Abu Dhabi? True, but it’s a coincidence and then, at this stage it is more satisfying to have managed to keep Webber behind me, who I reckon will be a more serious rival in the title fight than the Russian. KERS worked well as did the moveable rear wing, although it did not make the overtaking moves that easy. At the start there was a bit of confusion: I got away well, but then Button headed for me and I had to go wide to avoid a collision. The strategy was just right and it helped me to make up some places. Maybe if I hadn’t ended up immediately in traffic, I could have tried to go for two stops but given how things went, we made the best decision. We are in the right zone for us to be able to win a title, but definitely not if we keep finishing third or fourth. We have to improve, we know that, but it’s still too early to make any predictions.”
Mark Webber (5th)
“I wasn’t quick today and it was the same in qualifying yesterday, so we need to understand the reason why. There wasn’t much else I could do today. I lost the last position to Fernando (Alonso) during the pit stops and that was it really. It was very frustrating. Seb drove a good race, in terms of what the car can do, but it’s not normal for me not to go and match the rhythm at the front. I should be able to stay with these guys, but today I finished a long way behind. It was a tough race and I was pushing as hard as I could, but I wasn’t getting much back. To finish that far behind is not really usual, but let’s stay cool; it’s the first race. I’m looking forward to going to Malaysia; I wish the race was tomorrow already. I was in a different race to Sebastian today, so we had to do different things. I was in trouble with the tyres much sooner than he was, so we need to have a look why.”
Jenson Button (6th)
“I got an okay start, but I was surprised to see Vitaly (Petrov) up the inside - he got a very good start and forced me wide. Then I got stuck behind Felipe (Massa), because I got a very poor exit out of Turn 1, and that was the worst move of my race, because he was so slow and difficult to overtake. He slowed us both down massively. I tried to overtake him around the outside of Turn 11. I was in front before we turned in, but he went really deep into the corner and pushed me wide so that I couldn’t take my normal line. After my drive-through penalty I had to fight my way back - which was fun but also frustrating. I just wish I could have got the best out of it today, but at least Lewis did a good job. We should be very happy with our pace though. We’ll have upgrades for the next race, but the car is still very new, and there are plenty of changes we can make to hone the package.We should be very happy with this weekend, I just wish I could have come away with more points.”
Sergio Perez (7th)
“I will never forget this race, that is certain. After we changed from the hard to the soft tyres, I thought at first I had to push. But then I realised I could manage the tyres quite well and we decided to go to the end with them. I lost some time behind Sebastian Vettel, but I was then able to overtake him. I used the rear wing and he also left room. I am very proud of my team, the strategy worked and it was a nice surprise the tyres lasted so long. I want to thank everybody, especially in Mexico, who helped me to get into Formula One.”
Kamui Kobayashi (8th)
“I’m very happy we have managed to score points with both cars. I had a good start and got by Alonso, who overtook me later. With the first set of soft tyres I was struggling to warm them up. With the second set of the soft ones I think the pace was good, and also the third stint on the harder tyres was okay. I had a big moment when Rubens Barrichello and Nico Rosberg crashed in front of me, but no more excitement after that. It is a good start and makes me feel happy looking forward to the season.”
Felipe Massa (9th)
“At the start things got off on the right foot with a nice start and good defending from Button’s attacking moves. Then we tried to bring forward the use of the hard tyres, but that move did not pay off and we had to make the third stop towards the end, which lost me a few places. In the second part, I suffered a lot with degradation on the rear tyres and I could not keep up a good pace. New elements such as the rear wing worked as they should: we definitely saw more overtaking than last year. The duel with Button? It was very tight: when he passed me, cutting the chicane, I expected him to be penalised. I am a bit disappointed with the result and the overall performance this weekend. We have to get down to work to understand fully what happened, because I think we have not shown our true potential.”
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