Question: Sebastian, you pushed Fernando to the absolute limit today but it wasn’t to be. Did you ever think at any stage of the race that it might be on, particularly in the closing stages?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, obviously it was the only chance I had. Unfortunately in the beginning I had to let him go a little bit and then towards the end of the first stint the soft tyres were pretty much at the end. The car was sliding a lot. We came in at the same lap. Unfortunately at the pit stop I had a little mistake but I think it would have been very close. That is the story of the whole race. I tried to push him as hard as I could into a mistake. He didn’t do a major mistake so as he said it is difficult to overtake here and it would have been too risky, so in the end we got away with second, good points. But the most important is that the car is quick, competitive all weekend. There was a bit missing yesterday and probably that was what I was missing today. I had a very good start, so I think we made good progress on that. In the end it is good to get good points for the team. It helps us a lot in the Constructors’ Championship and in the Drivers’ Championship everything is still very much open.
Question: Sebastian, tell us in more detail about the start. Your move and Fernando’s response into turn one.
Sebastian Vettel: Well, my move was pretty straightforward. I just went straight. I could see immediately that I had a very good start. It would have been enough for turn one but obviously Fernando closed and went to the inside, so there was no way to go. It would have made the angle for the first corner pretty tight, so I decided to go on the right and try to catch more speed for the rest of the lap. Yeah, that was that. As Mark said and I before, very good efforts on the starts. We have been criticised, wrongly I think, in the past but it is good to come here on a street circuit where it is always tricky to get the right settings for the start and we did both very good starts, so happy with that.
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Question: Sebastian, you seemed to shadow him all the way but never got any closer?
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, not really. I was hoping for him to hit the wall but he didn’t do it. It is very tough around here to overtake. It is nearly impossible if Fernando did a good job and they had a very strong pace in the race. Probably a little bit stronger than we expected. At the beginning of the race it was a bit difficult. With the soft tyres we were struggling a little bit to keep up with him. Initially it was fine but then towards the end, before the pit stop, a couple of laps, the last 10 laps before the stop, it was quite difficult to stay with him. We had to be careful as if you run behind another car all the time the car is significantly hotter in temperatures for brakes, for the engine, so it was cleverer to back off a little bit and control the gap. Towards the pit stop we closed the gap. Unfortunately I made a little mistake on the mini launch but I think it would have been very close. Possibly the best chance in the race was at the start. I had a very good start but hoped for turn one to be a little bit further down the road. That was pretty much the story of the whole race. Trying to push him as hard as I could. It is not a big secret, it is not easy to follow and always be within one second of him. It is as close as it is going to get. If I was a bit closer, then the next two laps I could feel it. I was dropping off a bit and then getting close again. I think the pace was very good. It is difficult to say as we don’t know how quick Fernando went and how much margin he had but being able to follow him comfortably I think the car was in a very good state. It worked well all weekend. Unfortunately there was a bit missing yesterday and that was a big percentage of the race result today. But, nonetheless, we can be very proud of what we did. Against all expectations we both had a very good launch and we can look forward. The tracks coming up should suit our car very well.
Question: And second place, the points are ideal.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, it is good points. In the end we have now got four races. It is very tight. I think any of the five drivers at the top of the championship still have a very good chance. Things can change quickly. Best case look at Fernando. People wrote him off for the championship twice already and he is back. You win one or two races in a row and you are back again. The most important is the consistency and as I said, I am confident as we have a very strong car and a good team, so keep our heads down and get the maximum out of us.
Question: Seb, how do you rate your Red Bull for the last four tracks?
Sebastian Vettel: I think it’s looking good. We are Red Bull, we are in a unique position again this year and we are horny - can you say that in English or does it not make too much sense? I think we have a very good chance. Obviously Korea is coming up which is unknown, no one knows. Other than that, if you look at Japan, Brazil and Abu Dhabi, I think we have a very strong car.
Question: Seb, I think you said you were struggling a bit to hold Fernando towards the end of that stint on the options but you were still going quicker than anybody on primes, so were you a bit surprised they didn’t keep you out another couple of laps?
Sebastian Vettel: No, I think on options you could see generally that everyone was struggling towards the end. I could see Fernando in front of me, obviously. He was sliding a lot and so was I. The rear tyres were starting to go off. I made a maximum effort to get as close as I could in the end. We could have maybe tried to stay a lap longer or a lap shorter. I don’t think it was possible with the gap. But on the other hand, you go out with the prime and you end up with a new tyre and it’s just so much better, so even staying out I think would have just enlarged the gap to Fernando, so in the end I think it was fair to come in, put some pressure on Ferrari for the pit stop because obviously everyone knows that our pit stops are very strong, so unfortunately, as I said, I had a bit of a wobble with the get-away but I think they had a clean stop as well, so the gap he had in the pit lane - probably half a second - was still good enough. Unfortunately it was not enough today but I think if you follow another car closely as we did for the main part of the race - I don’t know if anybody else did during the race - you obviously could go faster, you never know how fast, because you’re not in clean air, but I think the pace was good all weekend. I will still take second.
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