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Question: Sebastian, you have been second here on the grid, second in the race itself. Is this a good race or a bad race or an average one? Most of them seem to be good for Red Bull Racing?
Sebastian Vettel: I think it is a very good race. One of the best we have in the season. It’s a night race so very much looking forward to it. The circuit, as we touched on already, is one of the toughest for the drivers. To keep the focus it is extremely important so it should be a good race.
Question: Obviously you will be looking at the same two teams as usual, McLaren and Ferrari, but Fernando Alonso seems to be particularly keen here. He has won here twice.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, I mean we will have to see. I think it will be a long weekend. A very long race. Nearly two hours. It is longer than all the other races that we have during the season. Ferrari were very competitive here last year. I think we were equally matched. I couldn’t get past on the track, so hopefully this year it is the other way around. I think it will be a long weekend. On this circuit it is hard to predict who is really going to be very competitive. Obviously I think we will be fighting McLaren and Ferrari but also I think Mercedes could have a good chance here so we will see. It is a circuit where the car is important, but I think the driver can make a big difference as well.
Question: Is there still a flow of development parts coming?
SSebastian Vettel: I wouldn’t call it a flow. But we have some bits.
Question: A trickle then?
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, we have some bits. You always try to improve the car. It is not another step on Monza package as it is a completely different circuit but it is a step on the car we had on similar tyres of tracks, street circuit, so we will see.
Question: You could actually win the championship here. What are your thoughts on that?
Sebastian Vettel: As you said would, could, should. So far we haven’t won anything. We are in a good position but still some way to go. We have to race and do our normal job and try to achieve our best. It is one of the most difficult tracks for the car, for the drivers. It is a long, long way to the chequered flag. A lot of people talk about it but certain things have to happen. It reminds me a little bit of the situation we faced in Abu Dhabi where people came up every two or three minutes giving another option that is possible. Out of I don’t know 1,467 options this could be one. It’s not the objective for this weekend. The target is to optimise our performance and then either we get surprised or not?
Question: So we could say you are not in a hurry?
Sebastian Vettel: Generally our target going into the season was to defend our title. We are in a very good position. There is no reason that the target should change. It doesn’t really matter when, it matters to us that it happens and that is what we are working on.
Question: Sebastian, I know you said ‘it happens when it happens’ but is there any pressure on you to realise the championship in Singapore?
Sebastian Vettel: I think there’s always pressure on me and on us because we want to achieve our best every single weekend and achieve our maximum so if there’s a possibility or chance to win, then we want to go for it. I don’t feel any extra pressure trying to win the championship here or trying to win it in one particular place. As I said earlier, we have to just remind ourselves what was the target going into the season and the target was not to win the championship by Singapore or any other race; the target was to win the championship itself. That’s why I think this race is as important as all the other ones, to be able to win the championship.
Question: Sebastian, last year you were stuck behind Fernando; do you think that DRS could help you to overtake him this year and overtake everyone?
Sebastian Vettel: I think we have to wait and see. Sure you might have a better chance with the DRS, simply because of the fact that if you’re close enough, the car behind is allowed to use it and the car in front is not, like at all the other places. But we’ve seen this year, firstly depending on distance - so how big the DRS zone is, and secondly, where the DRS zone is, meaning which circuit, which straights and so on. It can make a big difference, so we will have to wait until we find out here.
Question: Sebastian, this weekend will you take the same risks that you take in other races or will you be more conscious of this race?
Sebastian Vettel: Well, it depends. It depends on the race that you’re in. I think one thing is clear. It always depends - given the risks you take - it always depends on the chances you see. If you see that there’s a gap and a chance to pass a car in front, then you go for it. If you think at that moment whether you decide to go for it or not that the risk is too high you don’t do it. It would be wrong to drive around with the handbrake on, just say ‘OK, I need to finish, I need to finish.’ On the other hand, it would be wrong to go into the race and say ‘now I need to risk something.’ So I think you should just race. In the end, we have a long season, a lot of races. Surely sometimes you will make mistakes, it’s natural. But I think the more races you do the more experience you get, ideally the fewer mistakes you make. As I said, we try to get the best out of this race and if we find ourselves in a good position, able to win, and there’s a chance and a gap, we have to go for it. If not, there’s no need to try something stupid.
Question: Jenson is quoted today as saying that despite being fit, that because the race is at night, because of the humidity, the concentration levels, the race is actually a bit long and drivers would like to see it shortened. I wonder what is your view?
Sebastian Vettel: I think it’s fine as it is. It’s the usual distance. Sure the speed is slow here because the average cornering speed is quite slow, so we need a lot of time to manage the 61 laps in the race, but it’s one of the biggest challenges we have, so the focus has to be extremely high throughout the race. It’s very hot, the humidity is very high. It’s very tough for the drivers, the whole thing happens at night, it’s more difficult for your eyes. I think it deserves to be a tough challenge. It’s long but it’s OK.
Question: As you mentioned already, this is a street circuit like Monte Carlo. For those of you who know this circuit, what are the differences from Monte Carlo in terms of driving challenge and driving technique? Is it more or less difficult here?
Sebastian Vettel: In a way it’s tougher than Monaco. Obviously I haven’t been around that long - maybe you should ask Michael - but I think over the last couple of years we have resurfaced (Monaco) again and again, and tried to make it smoother and better, safer. We’ve just been here a couple of times - this is the fourth time - but it’s much rougher than Monaco in a way. It’s very bumpy. At some places there’s not a lot of room for mistakes - generally there’s little or no run-off on street circuits but I think that given the lap is so long and there are so many corners, it’s quite hot, it’s humid, I think it makes it a tougher challenge in a way than Monaco. It’s a different track, but I think it’s tougher around here.
Question: I would assume that you’ve watched either all or part of the re-run of the Italian Grand Prix. What are your comments about Michael Schumacher’s driving? Was it within the bounds of sporting good behaviour; what are your feelings?
Sebastian Vettel: I think it was fun to watch, that’s one thing. Whether it was too hard or not… in a way it’s very easy for us to understand Lewis’s frustration: if you are behind, know that you can go quicker and you’re stuck because you’re short on ratios and the other car is very quick on the straights, and you can’t really get past. I saw the race and one move was arguably a little bit too much. I don’t know if Michael saw him or not, but out of the first chicane, when Lewis tried, with the speed he had, to go on the inside, it looked like Michael didn’t see him so he had to go on the grass.
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