Question: Sebastian, a record 15th pole of the season. Describe your feelings at this historic moment?
Sebastian Vettel: Yes, it is difficult. I mean there has been quite some talk before the qualifying, before this weekend, about this particular record and the best thing was just not to think about it at all. Yesterday we did have sort of a rough start to the weekend where I wasn’t happy 100 per cent with the balance yet but then I think we made the right choices overnight and again going into qualifying I was happier. Yeah, enjoying the moment, enjoying the laps I had. I was already happy with the first one in Q3 but I knew that there was a bit more to come and, yeah, put everything into the last lap. Very emotional when I crossed the line as I knew that whatever happens this is all I had and I gave it all so I was very pleased with that but then had to wait for quite a long time to see if my time was good enough or not. The names kept popping. My engineer told me Button P2, Mark P2 and then pole position so really special. Different than the other poles I would say. Obviously it took the master in that discipline, Nigel Mansell, a couple of races less but very special to me and now just happy to be here, happy to start at the front tomorrow, and hopefully enjoy the race so looking forward. The weather is going to be a big question mark. We knew that going into the weekend. To be honest it has improved so today was already supposed to be wet, but it was dry, so I think this place is a bit tricky anyway. Special races, special weather. We have seen that the last couple of years so looking forward to tomorrow.
Question: Sebastian, now we have had the final qualifying session of the season you can tell us what is the secret. How did you find those few final tenths-of-a-second on that run last run in Q3? All of these guys would love to know and we all want to know too.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, I don’t know. There is no secret. We had a nice dinner on Wednesday before the weekend here and a couple of the mechanics kept joking ‘where is the bag, where do you keep these couple of tenths for Q3. Do you just take it out?’. It is not that easy to put everything into one lap. All the circuits are different and sometimes you are not so happy but other times you are very happy with what you can do or what you could do in qualifying. Generally this year I think I was able, most of the time, to put everything into that one lap, or final run in Q3. Sometimes you want a little bit more but all in all I was pretty happy with my days on Saturday and we had good Sundays as well so there is no secret. Once we go into qualifying we all seem to enjoy it. I personally love the moment when you go out for your final run. You feel it is different to any practice run, or Q1 and Q2. You are so excited, nervous, as you know that’s the lap. The build-up to it is great and then the lap itself is like a rush so I really enjoy that.
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Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Grabs Record Breaking Pole at Interlagos
Formula 1: Brazilian Grand Prix - Race Line Up
Question: Sebastian, a lot of drivers don’t worry about statistics, don’t worry about records, but this one seems to be very special for you?
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, I don’t really worry going into the race or into the qualifying or into the season. I think you can’t set yourself a target like that. It is a bit hard to believe it now, but I think those sort of numbers in a way they are made for ever and it would be ridiculous going into a season thinking you might be anywhere close at the end of it. As I said, I think it just happens. Many times if you set yourself a target to say I want to achieve this or that or reach a certain number, go for statistics, I think it goes wrong. There was quite some talk already on Thursday. Not from my side, but from the outside and today as well. I think the only way to really get there was not to worry about it and just do our normal job which is trying to do the best we can. I said to myself going into qualifying that I want to make sure I get everything out of the car there is and if someone else beats me then he totally deserves it. I think that is the name of the game every time. Fortunately this year we had quite good Saturdays, also brilliant Sundays, but surely sitting here now and answering these kind of questions is very special.
Question: Have you ever thought how you are in the car? Are you tense” Are you gritting your teeth or are you relatively relaxed?
Sebastian Vettel: Good thing you don’t see our faces! I think sometimes you would be surprised. Not really, you don’t really think about yourself. Qualifying is all about putting everything you have and the car has in one lap. Sometime sacrifice a bit here to get more at the next corner or the next sector. I think you have to be awake for sure. Even if sometimes things go a little bit wrong in one corner, I think you straight away have to move onto the next corner. I just love the build-up to qualifying. Q1 and Q2, you know that the most important thing is to get through. Of course, you would like to be fastest in the session but then Q3 is really when you feel the excitement and you are getting tense and nervous at the same time. When the lap happens you don’t really think, you just got for it and try to get more and more. Fortunately it has worked out pretty often, but you are also very close to doing mistakes, which happens if you push yourself on the limit over the limit. It is natural, it happens to all of us.
Question: You said you needed to take another step from yesterday and the team seemed to have delivered. Was that fairly easy to work out where that speed was coming from?
Sebastian Vettel: Not really. The start to the weekend, yesterday morning, was a bit rough. It wasn’t bad, but just I wasn’t happy with the car, myself, balance, and just everything did not come together and we made a reasonable step overnight. The guys on the car worked pretty long last night so really thanks for that and the engineers, especially my engineer Timmy (Maylon) he pushed very hard and I think he didn’t get a lot of sleep and he is responsible for a big part of the car improving so much. I think it was more what I was used to having in previous races straight from this morning and then we fine-tuned a little bit and then in qualifying there is not much you can do. We just tried to get a little bit better every run, tried to go with the track and see what we could do.
Question: Sebastian, I wanted to ask you - you are now not only the team to beat but the man to beat for 2012; how does it feel, knowing that you are now the hunted and not the hunter?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, I think, to be fair, it has been a little bit the same situation going into this year. The guy who wins the championship the previous year has the number one on the car and that’s what we are all after. We had an incredible three years now, but in particular the last two were very special for us as a team and for myself, obviously. To be honest, right now, I’m not bothered about next year, I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I think it should be quite an exciting race. Conditions might be a question mark, there’s rain on the way. The question is when, how much and if the flowers grow or not. It should be an exciting day tomorrow and after that we worry about next year. I think, first of all, it has been a long season this year. We are all tired in a way and ready for the break and then, quite soon, we are ready again for next year so I’m looking forward to that, obviously The guys in the team are pushing hard to work on next year’s car, but years like this, or seasons like we had this year, you can’t take that for granted at all. We work very hard to have a competitive car next year again - we hope - and then we will see.
Question: Would you like it to rain and would it help you to win or not to win?
Sebastian Vettel: There’s always more chances if it’s wet. On the other hand, the risk is higher so yeah, it’s probably very exciting for people in the grandstands - maybe not so much for them if it really rains because they get wet - but the people behind the TV screens and generally watching the race, it can make it more exciting. For us, it can be exciting too but as I said, it’s obviously quite a bit trickier, especially around this place so we will see. If it happens, it happens. It’s not in our hands anyway. It’s a good thing we cannot control the weather. We control too many things, I think. The weather’s not in our hands.
Question: You each have a few years on the grid already but can you imagine yourselves doing 19, maybe 20 years in F1 like Rubens?
Sebastian Vettel: First of all, I think it would be a real shame to lose Rubens for the future, because he belongs here, he has been here for a long time as you said, pretty crazy to imagine yourself to be around that long. In the end, I don’t think it really matters how long you are in F1 but the really inspiring bit about Rubens, I really like him and the inspiring bit is that he loves what he does. I get the impression that he’s happy when he wakes up in the morning and goes to the track, he doesn’t think about his age. Sometimes you have people - I don’t know, but from what I have seen, sometimes we’ve seen people of that age who are sad that times passes on but Rubens has no problem with his age. For him it’s a number but it doesn’t mean anything, he still feels young and fresh and he’s still really funny and definitely a character. It would be a shame to lose him and I think for all of us, in a way, it’s hard to imagine that we will be around for such a long time. Mentioning statistics, I heard a figure the other day - I don’t know if it’s true, I don’t know how many races or Grands Prix that Rubens did now, I think 300 and something - but he has participated in more than half of the Grands Prix ever held [not true, 321 out of 857]. I don’t know if that’s right, I think so, so it’s pretty impressive.
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