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Question: Sebastian, you have won the constructors’ championship and now you have a chance in the drivers’ in Abu Dhabi as well.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, I think incredible day. Not an easy race to start with. We knew we were on the dirty side but I think we had a good start. I saw that Nico (Hulkenberg) had a bit too much wheel spin and I just used my momentum to squeeze down the inside. He didn’t give a lot of room, but just enough. Then it was key for me to disappear in the distance, controlling the gap. The car felt fantastic. All throughout the race I was able to hold the gaps as I planned, so I could control the race from there. With the safety car in the end it was the right choice not to try to pull away too much, to have some tyres left. Then I focused on the first couple of laps, built a gap and then just brought the car home. It is pretty incredible. I don’t know what to say really. Incredible effort from the team. Not an easy season, especially with races we just had in Korea. I think it was the right answer for all the people to come back here, never mind what happened in Korea, just stay focused and the whole team pulling on one string and getting us both up here, one-two, and getting the constructors’ championship one race before the end. I think it is fantastic. We are still fighting for the drivers’. I want to get rid of this guy (Alonso), but it is an unbelievable achievement. I am very proud, regards to all the people in the team, in the factory in Milton Keynes, but also in Austria. They have been starting this programme, this target, before I entered Formula One but it is nice now to be part of it. I am very proud. Proud of my team, of myself, so I would say a fantastic day.
Question: Sebastian, you have got to outscore Fernando by 16 points in Abu Dhabi. Is it possible?
Sebastian Vettel: I think so. If it would be 26 it would be impossible, 16 is possible. I don’t wish anything bad to happen to him but I think we wouldn’t mind if we saw some nice Ferrari smoke. But jokes apart, we are all racing, we are all on the edge pushing ourselves to the limit. I have to focus on myself, just as I did here, trying to get the best out as I did yesterday and today, so we just try to repeat basically and try to win the race there and then see where he is finishing or probably not. In a week’s time we will know.
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Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Wins Brazilian Grand Prix
Formula 1: Brazilian Grand Prix - Race Results
F1 Standings Ahead of Brazilian Grand Prix
Question: Seb, a final message from you to the Red Bull team on winning the constructors’ championship. An amazing achievement?
Sebastian Vettel: Congratulations. As I said an extremely difficult season for us with lots of people talking us down at some stage. Sometimes right, sometimes not right, so it is good to show them one race from the end what we are made of. We are here to fight. It hasn’t been that long since Red Bull entered Formula One. If you look in general terms compared with teams like Ferrari and McLaren we are fighting, so it is a nice feeling to know that you have the better car and you did the better job over one season. We still have one race to go, so very proud. They can be proud of themselves and at least for the race team - I am not worried about the guys in England they know what to do - but for the race team I think we are in the right country for tonight at least with some good caipirinha, some good drinks, to enjoy.
Question: Sebastian, as far as I could see the only problem you seemed to have was with the back-markers.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it was a busy race for lapped cars. It is a relatively short track, let’s say a short amount of time you spend for one lap, around 1 minute 10 or 20, so mid-way through the race the laps go past like crazy, which is a good thing as 71 laps is a lot. But so many cars and always very risky, so you need to be extremely focused. You don’t want to lose a lot of time but on the other hand you have to have enough margin as you don’t know. Some guys are better than others. You never know if he is giving you way now or is he just making a mistake. With some people it is not always obvious but all in all I think all the drivers behaved and I managed to get through. It was nice to have the safety car phase with two cars as a cushion as then I could push right away. But to start… The start was good. It worked as per plan. I saw that Nico struggled a bit off the line and I just at some point floored the pedal, used the momentum that I had. The grip was lower on the dirty side but still it didn’t seem to be too bad. Then it was a close fight. I think he got a good start. I just had a bit better one and then he was trying to squeeze me down the inside. There was hardly any space left. I was just praying there was no debris as it was not really the racing line I had to use. But it was obviously the key to enter the first corner first and then build a gap in the first stint. Mark was behind, so I was relatively safe. I was always trying to keep two and a half seconds gap which seemed to work. Control the race from there. We were pulling away slightly step-by-step from the Ferraris, so everything worked. I would say as expected, a nice race and in the end incredible result for the team. Winning the constructors’ championship has been a mission. Red Bull entered Formula One and I was a small boy. I remember my first trip. I had just got my drivers’ licence and I drove to England. It was in 2005. To Milton Keynes and if I compare the place back then to now it is massive progress. I was a little boy. Someone showed me around and I was fascinated. Sparks in my eyes. Looking up to Formula One and now to be part of the team and part of the driver line-up to give them their first championship is incredible. I don’t really know how to put it in words. Big thanks to the guys in Milton Keynes, here at the track and also in Austria. It is not always just investing money, it is time, patience and a lot of passion. I think we have got all the ingredients to build that kind of car and even with a season like we had, ups and downs, to still to be able to win the constructors’.
Question: Sebastian with the constructors’ title now out of the way, and the drivers’ picture pretty clear, if this is the top three going into the final lap in Abu Dhabi, will you do the honourable thing and allow Mark by for him to win the title?
Sebastian Vettel: I’m not sure if I got all of your question. It’s pretty straightforward. In less than a week’s time, we unpack the cars - the day after tomorrow actually - and prepare them for Abu Dhabi, try to get ready, first of all. We knew that we were strong last year, we have to see if we are competitive, but I’m confident we will be. With such a strong car under our belt, then we see where we are. We will see where we qualify, up to that point in qualifying we are both historically… we just try to get everything out of the car, then we will see where we are. Operating those cars on the limit, you are never certain of anything happening. The best proof is probably two weeks ago, ten laps to the end, the race was safe, everything was fine and then the engine pops. Things can be out of your hands. So we go there, try to qualify as high up as possible and then race hard and then see where we are. And then obviously in my case it’s pretty straightforward. The only thing I can do is try to optimise my result, get everything out of myself, ideally repeat the result we achieved today and then obviously it depends where those two guys are. For sure, you will have to judge according to the situation. I think both of us know how to act. We’ve had some moments which were probably not representative and which we’re not very proud of and we don’t want to repeat. So, full stop.
Question: Sebastian, you gave a long answer to Ian’s question but you didn’t actually answer the question. As Fernando says, if you win the race, he only needs to be fourth to win the championship. If Mark wins the race, then Fernando would need to be second, so if you’re leading going into the last lap of Abu Dhabi with Mark second and Fernando third or fourth, will you let Mark by?
Sebastian Vettel: I think you will see then. I went to school, obviously, so I know what I can answer. There was a lot of talk before this race. In the end, the way the race unfolded it was all unnecessary. For me, it’s pretty straightforward. I go to Abu Dhabi, try to do my best, we have a strong car, I can rely on that and then we will see. What do you want to hear? I can only tell you in that scenario you are describing, I can only tell you what you think. I think it’s clear.
Question: Was that a yes?
Sebastian Vettel: It’s one week away. As a kid, I never liked it when my parents teased me for something and didn’t answer my question, so now I’m in a good position to tease you, so you will see.
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