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Question: Sebastian, a 10th win of the season and any thoughts that after last week’s celebrations you’d start taking things easy now quickly dispersed?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, I think it is good to see that the whole team keeps on pushing. In terms of preparation it wasn’t ideal, as I think most of us were a bit tipsy after the last race after the Sunday night. But we clearly deserved that. Now to come here and after a tough Friday and tough Saturday morning to come back in qualifying and then in the race, the car was fantastic. It was so much fun to drive. The car was getting quicker and quicker. When the safety car came I didn’t really need that to be honest. Lewis came closer again and I was struggling a little bit with the tyres but then the car seemed to stabilise and come back and I was able to open a gap just before we had the second pit-stop and then to the end it was just fantastic. On the prime I could push when I had to and got a little bit of a gap as those guys were fighting. But it is fantastic. After last weekend the Drivers’ Championship, this weekend the Constructors’ Championship for the team is fantastic. Also I want to say, especially and in particular at this place, a lot of thanks to Renault. They have been pushing so hard. I think we showed as a team a lot of morale after last year when we had the engine failure here to come back and still win the championship last year. Faultless from the Renault side. The engine is working fantastically well. We are very competitive on those circuits with long straights like Monza or here again so all in all the package is fantastic. The guys are enjoying it and I think we do as well so thank you very much and I am very, very happy today.
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Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Wins Korean Grand Prix Ahead of Lewis Hamilton
Formula 1: Korean Grand Prix - Race Results
Question: Sebastian, how difficult was it to get strategy right today? You gambled and saved a set of the harder tyres in qualifying, but then decided not to use all your harder tyres in the race.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, we ended up stopping way less than we thought. The first couple of laps the car felt good and the balance was alright. I think for all the cars it was a little bit the same thing. We expected much more degradation, but it didn’t come, and then eventually it came but much later, so you delayed the first stop, the second stop and by the time you found out you realise that you don’t have to stop three times within 10 laps. It was a very good race from that side. Tyres and tyre management wasn’t easy. I think we were on top of it for most of the race, especially towards the end of the stints on the soft tyre I was able to gain on Lewis. In the beginning he put quite a lot of pressure and I always wanted to stay clear of the DRS. We had quite some headwind down the long straight from turn two to turn three, where the DRS zone is as well, and I knew at the moment he would start to come into the DRS he would be very close. I was pushing hard which the tyres didn’t thank me in the second stint. But, fortunately, they came back and I was able to pull away at the end which was crucial to then to have a gap for the final stint and control the gap from there.
Question: Sebastian, how difficult was the strategy today as you mentioned degradation later in the race. How often does that happen?
Sebastian Vettel: Well I think it was a little bit go out and find out. Difficult to know what to expect as we had zero experience on Friday. Saturday morning looked pretty confident. We were then trying something different in qualifying, why not, which we didn’t really use today. As it turned out the options were fine for the first two stints and carried us a long way through the race. Much more than I think we all expected so we ended up fitting options again and then going for the prime and going to the end. Going into the weekend I think we were thinking about a lot of stops, but it turned out to not really be the case. Tyres were fine and simply lasted longer than expected and then you end up pitting less.
Question: Tell us about the start and the first lap?
Sebastian Vettel: My start was not perfect. I think Lewis got away off the line a little bit better than I did. I had a very good launch for the formation lap, but it doesn’t really help. Race start was about the same, but I think, as I said, lost out a little bit to the McLarens. Then, as I touched on before the race, a very long straight after that. A big headwind and I was able to close the gap to Lewis and focused then on the straight from turn three or four. Very late decided for the gap. Lewis was very fair going into turn four. I was right on the edge, nearly went straight. It was crucial and then I was a little bit afraid as I had really pushed hard. I knew that with the headwinds down the straight from the second to the third corner it would be very easy for the cars behind to close the gap as I would be the first one facing the wind. Once I got away in the first stint I think I was able to pull away a little bit more every lap. In the second stint I struggled a bit in the beginning and Lewis caught up and it got reasonably close. I was always afraid for him running into the DRS or being close enough to open his rear wing. I didn’t want that. Fortunately then, after a little bit of a wobble and the tyres starting to go off, the car seemed to stabilise and I was able to get quicker again and pull away just before we came in for the second stop.
Question: You said recently that you always wanted to go for fastest lap right at the end of the race; now you’re allowed to, are you?
Sebastian Vettel: I think they will kill me now. On the radio, they said ‘you didn’t get the fastest lap’ which obviously isn’t true, and then they came on the radio and said ‘idiot, you got it.’ It’s really stupid. I think in other races, it doesn’t really make sense but on the last lap I had a good feeling and yeah, I was pushing a bit harder to get the fastest lap. It’s a small thing; it’s probably more to do with the ego because there are no points so it’s really stupid from my side but now I’ve got one, I’m happy.
Question: Sebastian, you seemed really happy to get your tenth victory when you came on the radio at the end of the race. Is that something that was particularly important to you; you sounded even more excited than last weekend. Are you trying to match a record?
Sebastian Vettel: Not really, but I was very happy with how the race went today. I had the feeling that we got everything out of the car. You know last week was a very, very special day but it took some time to really sink in and we finished third. I had the feeling that it was very close and maybe we could have done a little bit better. It doesn’t meant that I’m not satisfied with third place; obviously I was extremely happy to win the Championship but if you know that your race wasn’t the best from your side and there was a little bit left at the end there, then of course it’s difficult, as I said after the race, to switch into a different mode, whereas here, I think we got everything out today, it was a brilliant race from start to finish. We were very clever with the tyres, able to read the tyres and pull the gaps at the end of the stints when it was important, where we were struggling in particular last week, so in that regard we came back much stronger and had a much better race and it was just fantastic. It was a great day for the team, as Mark touched on, securing the Constructors’. I knew that if we finished on equal points or a little bit ahead of McLaren as a team today we could secure the Constructors’ and ten is a nice number so yeah, it was a nice day.
Question: Sebastian, everybody talks about the title for Drivers. Can you explain to us what the Constructors’ title means, that no one speaks about outside the paddock? How is it important for a driver?
Sebastian Vettel: You need to understand that we have so many people off the track, especially in Milton Keynes, in the factory, working day-in, day-out, every day of the week, every month of the year, really trying to make or to build two very competitive race cars. It’s not just one person or one area where things need to come together, it’s everything. Even the staff of the kitchen matters and everything needs to come together. Obviously for us, the drivers, the most important championship is the Drivers’ championship but for the team, it’s the other way round, it’s the Constructors’, to know where they match with the other teams and it’s very good to see that we had another very strong year after the strong season last year. As Mark touched on, to win back-to-back is outstanding and the guys are surely very happy and I think there will be a little bit of a bonus for them, so they will be happy.
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