Formula 1: Interview With Australian GP Winner - Sebastian Vettel

Question: Sebastian, pole position and victory. It looked under control, was it?

Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, obviously, it was a good race. In the end, things calmed down a bit. Lewis didn’t push as hard anymore, so we tried to control the last part of the race. But I don’t think it was an easy race. The start was crucial and being on the clean side I had a very good getaway but I did not know it was enough until I saw that Lewis and Mark (Webber) were battling for position, so I was clear with that, and then the first stint more or less tried to hold the gap. But we saw how quickly you reach at some point the cliff and the tyres start to see some more degradation. Lewis caught up, we came in, I think it was the right timing, just. I could not really have done more laps. After my stop, it was crucial to get past Jenson (Button), which I could do immediately, so that was very, very important. After that, the second part of the race, I did not know what was going on behind Lewis, if he was under pressure or not. With him dropping off, in terms of the amount of pressure he put on, I could control the situation a bit better. All in all, a very good race. A lot of things to learn today and we need to definitely have another look at the race and move forwards from here.

Question: It was the first race on Pirelli tyres, the first with the DRS wings. What do you make of the new rules for 2011.

Sebastian Vettel: I think very positive. We have to make some compliments to Pirelli. After the tests we were all a bit scared but coming here in the end we didn’t see as many stops as expected. All in all, I think it was a smooth race. The rear wing is still very fresh. This is a special circuit. Turn one I don’t think is the best place for overtaking in the whole year, so we need to see. But surely it helps to come closer. I was getting closer to Jenson, which helped me then (and) two corners later to pass him. So far, it worked as expected. Obviously, you can only judge what happened with me. I don’t know what happened behind.

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Formula 1: Pole Sitter Sebastian Vettel Wins Australian Grand Prix

Formula 1: Australian Grand Prix - Race Results

Question: Sebastian, perfect start to the year. We now know a little bit more about the pace of all the different teams. Where do you see your threat coming from this season?

Sebastian Vettel: Well, yesterday was a very good day for us and the gap was big to Lewis and McLaren, but, nevertheless, it is a long, long season. I try to keep saying to the team that we have to keep our feet on the floor. It was a very good race today. A lot of points, very important and I think we enjoyed ourselves, which is even more important. But it is a long year, a lot of things can happen. This is a special track, so we have to stay focused for the next one and then the next one. After this comes race two, then race three, so step-by-step really, trying to keep on doing what we are doing now. Enjoying plus working hard and then I think we have a good chance. Giving you some names on some teams now is obvious. Those guys who are sitting next to me plus Ferrari is always very strong. Obviously, Mercedes did not have a great start but I think they will come back and will be stronger this year than last year, so I think it will be very close, sooner or later. So it was important to finish, which we did not really succeed last year, so big, big compliments again to all the people back in the factory. The car was quick from the first moment on, which we know now, but also very reliable. That is the key. It is the first time I have finished the Australian Grand Prix as well, so I am really, really happy.

Question: Sebastian, can we call that a dominant performance. It seemed to be?

Sebastian Vettel: I don’t really like the word dominant at this stage to be honest. It is a long, long way to go. First of all, I am very happy because I think all of us, the whole team and myself, we had a lot of fun today and we won the Australian Grand Prix. It is really always very nice to come here. The atmosphere is something special. You do the drivers’ parade and see the people going crazy. Obviously, Mark is the local hero and I was slipstreaming him on the drivers’ parade. It is nice to see so many people coming and cheering for our sport. That is something we don’t get everywhere. We really enjoy that and we have to keep coming here. The sun came out today. I was missing it all week and it was really great. The car was perfect. The first stint we have seen there is a lot of things that we need to learn and understand with the tyres. Lewis was a bit better in control of his tyres in the first stint, so he was catching up, right up to the point that we pitted. Then it was crucial for myself to get past Jenson, which worked. He was on used tyres, so it was quite a big difference at that stage plus, because of the wing, I could get really close after turn one and then into turn three/four pass him around the outside. It was crucial to stay ahead of Lewis. After that the car was getting a bit better. We made some small tweaks at the pit-stop, which seemed to help a lot, also for tyre life, tyre wear and from then onwards, I think, second part of the race, I didn’t know what was going on behind Lewis. If he was under pressure or not but he took it a bit easier, wasn’t pushing that hard anymore, So, I could do the same and just control the gap to him. The last part of the race was a bit more quiet. At some stage it was quite entertaining when I had Sergio Perez behind me. We can see how big a difference it can make being on different tyres even though you are on the same fuel load. I think he behaved well. I was hoping not to do something silly at that stage so all in all very happy. We worked a lot of hours, it is not an easy car to work on, so compliments to the mechanics. I was joking with them yesterday. They have been working all week long now to prepare for this weekend and now they can have pizza and beer tonight so it was a nice reward.

Question: We didn’t seem to see the massive drop off in times that perhaps we had seen in testing?

Sebastian Vettel: Well, naturally that is our job to avoid that. Job from the teams and job from us inside the car to make our own judgements, so before it really starts to happen make sure you find a gap and you can change tyres. We had a lot of laps at the test, a lot of experience. Barcelona was very different in terms of tyre wear compared to here. Coming here, first of all big compliments to Pirelli. They did a great job. Not that easy to prepare a tyre that quickly. Including myself, we were giving them a hard time over the winter as it looked quite frightening to be honest with a lot of stops but I think we saw way less stops today and even a one-stop strategy, so, all in all, I think they did the right job. Regarding the wing: I can only judge it for myself. It helped me to get close to Jenson and ultimately to pass him. It is pretty straightforward if you are on really different tyres, different wear life, So, as far as I can judge, it all worked very good. We won the race so I am very happy.

Question: And KERS?

Sebastian Vettel: Yeah. I mean, what do you want to know?

Question: Did you use it?

Sebastian Vettel: I don’t know which source you have, so it could be quite a challenge for you to find out. I don’t know, so maybe I keep it for myself.

Question: Okay, that is your privilege.

Sebastian Vettel: I was pressing some buttons, yes.

Question: Sebastian, as Christian told the BBC that you haven’t been running with KERS after trying it on Friday and deciding that it was perhaps a bit unreliable, does it seem as if you don’t need to use KERS for the rest of the season, then you’re super confident that your car is so quick in other areas that you don’t need to use it at all?

Sebastian Vettel: You could have told me that before the race, because I was wondering. I pushed the button all the time and nothing happened, so I should have had a word with you! No, I think it’s pretty obvious. If you ask Lewis how much KERS is worth, there is performance in there. Obviously we work very, very hard on that. It’s something we’re not proud of, but we need to keep working hard and improve for two weeks’ time. We have solutions, more or less, which should help us and make it possible to answer your question. But surely, you can’t rely on just having a good car or everything running smoothly. You want every single bit that you can get to make your car go quicker so KERS is one of the basic things this year and it’s worth something between three to five tenths a lap. I don’t need to tell you how much that is over a race distance. So, yes, we are working on that.

Question: Vettel, Hamilton said just now that the most important thing to him was that the gap in race conditions was reduced in comparison to yesterday. In your point of view, did you expect a better gap in comparison to your competitors in race conditions.

Sebastian Vettel: First of all, in Abu Dhabi we said that I also have a first name, so you are allowed to call me Sebastian. It’s always a long way before you start racing. We have been working very hard on that, to make the car quick in both scenarios, qualifying and racing. I was very happy today. Obviously, as I said, at the stop we made a bit of a change. There’s not much you can do. You can’t stop and change the set-up but it seemed to work quite a lot better and if anything, at the second stint, I was out on the tyres two laps longer than Lewis who pitted on the same lap. I think the pace was fine so we controlled the gaps well. The last stint was obviously hard to read, but all in all I’m happy with our pace yesterday and today, so it’s not as if there’s reason to panic.

Question: Sebastian, if you started the race knowing you didn’t have KERS, were you worried about the first lap, given that the cars near you did? Were you particularly determined to pull out that 2.4s gap? We don’t often see a gap that big after one lap.

Sebastian Vettel: Well, I think I had a good start. Obviously starting from the clean side here is a bigger advantage than other years. As Lewis said, he struggled with some wheelspin. We have seen throughout the winter that the tyre behaviour is different to what we were used to with the Bridgestones, so starting on Pirellis is different to starting on Bridgestones, in terms of the actual race start. I was happy with my start. I don’t think it was 100 percent perfect but obviously better than the cars behind me, at least the ones I could see. Obviously I can’t see Lewis in the mirror straightway but then I saw that I was pulling away… I felt I was pulling away well. Then I saw him in the mirror fighting with Mark which was a bit of a relief, just as all the other races you start and if the guy next to you has a worse start or you catch the guy in front of you it gives you a good feeling. So after that, obviously I used the first lap - not stupid - but obviously tried to pull out a gap as much as I could.

Question: Sebastian, is there a kangaroo on your trophy?

Sebastian Vettel: No. I’m not disappointed. In my mind there is a kangaroo on the trophy.

Question: One of the stars of this race was the movable wing. Does it really help to overtake?

Sebastian Vettel: Well, I think the massive advantage that you all have is that you actually saw the race. We didn’t. As far as I know, I had the opportunity to use it a couple of times, as I said, getting close to Jenson, sometimes when I was close to a lapped car, for instance. I cannot really answer your question because I don’t know what happened behind me.

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