Question: Sebastian, you have just been upgraded within the Red Bull family: you will take over David Coulthard’s cockpit in 2009. What does that mean for you?
Sebastian Vettel: I am very pleased to be given that chance and happy to continue working with Red Bull. I have been supported by them since I was a little kid, since 1999 when I was entering the Red Bull junior program. Of course it is always comforting to know early enough what you are going to do next year, where you’re going to be and therefore I can focus now one hundred percent on this season. The way I grew up, the way my family taught me things about life, I learned to do things step by step so the most important thing now is to focus on this year and the remainder of this season. We have nine races left and the target now is to score as many points as we can.
Question: Did it irritate you that suddenly the name Fernando Alonso was cropping up again as a possible Coulthard replacement?
Sebastian Vettel: No, not really. To be honest I don’t read a lot about what is written in the media, so that information must have missed me. I probably think that is the best you can do as a driver, so as not to get confused too much. As I said I have a very strong relationship with Red Bull so there was no reason for me to get worried and when David informed the team let’s say there was a door open and we very quickly decided what to do.
Question: Two weeks ago it was your 21st birthday. You were the youngest man ever to score a championship point, so obviously you are not the average newcomer. What would you say are your strengths?
Sebastian Vettel: I don’t know. All this young generation of drivers - Nico (Rosberg), Lewis (Hamilton), Robert (Kubica), Heikki (Kovalainen) and so on - we started karting much earlier than guys from the older generation. They started karting on a professional level at the age of 12 to 15 or even later - we started when we were seven, eight or nine years old. They started single-seaters when they were around 20 whereas we were 16 or 17. They entered Formula One at an age of 24 - we at 20. These four years are probably a kind of explanation. Motor racing is a business where you get very mature very quickly. Already when I was a young kid I was involved in all these questions like: we need money, we need sponsors. I was never just driving the car and ignoring the rest, I was part of all that was going on - also the commercial side of racing. When I was eight years old I was in my racing suit walking with my father around at the Frankfurt Auto show looking for sponsors - looking for money. It was then fantastic that I came to Red Bull’s attention, when they first started to believe in me and then believing in me for the long term - without Red Bull I wouldn’t be here!
| 
|