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Tag: Vettel
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Webber beats Vettel to take Abu Dhabi pole
yas Marina
From left: Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Nico Rosberg after the qualification at the Abu Dhabi GP on Saturday. Webber took the pole position. An FIA photo (Abu Dhabi), 2 Nov 2013:
FIA Post-qualification Press Conference, Abu Dhabi GP
Drivers Present
1 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)Unilateral
Q: Mark, your second pole in three races now. Describe your feelings, particularly on a track where your team-mate has always been so strong.
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, I think this weekend so far has gone pretty smoothly for us. It’s not the easiest venue because of the temperatures, when the sessions are: obviously in the afternoon and then the night session. You’ve got to be on top of that as a driver and also from an engineering perspective. So, we did what we could do. Not the smoothest part, I would say, to the start of Q2. Also Q1, we were not, I would say, electric but then getting into the groove we changed the car quite a bit, with the front wing level and things like that, as the session went on. And I got more and more comfortable. So, I knew I had to work on certain sections of the track. Sebastian had already been doing a good job there already so I had to try to match him there and keep the areas where I was still doing a pretty good job. Overall happy with the pole. It was a good lap obviously on a track which in the past hasn’t been super-invigorating for me in terms of layout, let’s say, but we certainly enjoyed the quali today and really looking forward to the race tomorrow because we’ve got a good car for the race in these conditions.
Q: Sebastian, obviously a slightly unusual session from your point of view, didn’t top the times in any of the three parts of the session. What were the tactics today and where did it get away from you?
Sebastian VETTEL: Well, I wouldn’t call it unusual. I think we were still pretty competitive, that’s probably the difference from you guys and us inside the garage. There is no guarantee. I think it’s a great result for the team, first of all. Start of qualifying I think Mercedes looked very, very strong. Both Nico and Lewis, especially in Q2. I think Mark and myself weren’t hanging about in Q2 but they were very, very strong. But we seemed to be able to find a little bit of extra time in Q3. I think I did a very good lap so congratulations to him. I think I should have done a little bit better but I don’t know if it had been enough. As a fact he deserved to be on pole today. He did a good job, no mistakes. As I said, on top of that, a great result for the team. We should have a strong race tomorrow.
Q: Nico, previous visits here, two times ninth, two times seventh. So a big step forward for you. And again, for you, your team-mate has always been very strong here and you’ve beaten him.
Nico ROSBERG: In general I’m pleased with the result for sure: third place, best of the rest, which is our target for the weekend. It was nice to annoy Red Bull a little bit from time to time there in qualifying but in the end they were just too quick again. But anyway, third place is good, I’m pleased with that. And again [we’re] just looking at the Constructors’ [Championship]. That’s what counts for us, third and fourth, blocking out the second row of the grid. Lotus for sure are some way back but especially Ferrari, who are our direct competition, they’re well back, so that’s a very good result for us today in qualifying.
Coming back to you now Mark. You didn’t manage the win from pole in Japan. Just a few races to go before the end of your Formula One career and a great chance tomorrow to sign off with a win.
MW: Yeah, look as Seb touched on, there are no guarantees. We have a good car in the race I believe. As we’ve shown in the last few events we’ve always been certainly there or thereabouts and leading some race in the last few events and challenging for some very good results. Like you say in quali it’s been pretty strong. Korea in the race, yeah, coming back from the 10-place penalty and bits and bobs. So, in general the form has been very strong, carry that over tomorrow night, keep my head down and look for a very good result, there’s no question about that.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Mark, why is it that this year has been so different from previous years. What is it about you that’s just hooked it up here?
MW: Well, I was pretty competitive last year here in qualifying. I think it’s probably no super secret that I like the more flowing circuits but you have to put your heads down and get on with these types of circuits like Singapore and Abu Dhabi and do the absolute maximum and do the best. When you start in Formula One, there is not a huge amount of circuit around like this but there are more and more now and that’s part of our job. With that, I get more exposure at these type of circuits and I think you learn more and unfortunately, or fortunately, I have a guy in the other car who is pretty handy on these type of tracks and you can also do some learning in that respect. I think it’s a strong type of layout for Seb, as he’s proved in Singapore and those type of tracks. In the end, more experience. You can never stop learning, mate, even at this age, so it was a good day and puts us in a good position tomorrow.
Sebastian, we heard you on the radio at the end, just apologising to the team that you didn’t make the most of sector one in particular. You haven’t made that many mistakes so far in 2013, I guess the heat is off now, you’ve already done what you needed to do but is that what led to the mistake?
SV: I was pushing hard, that’s the reason behind it. Surely, I think, as a driver, you always argue that there is a little bit here, a little bit there but the bottom line is that if you look at it from the outside as well, if you push yourself to the maximum trying to get everything out then you do mistakes as well. I’m not very proud of that but I did what I could today and it wasn’t enough to be on pole and that’s why I said it before and I’ll say it again – Mark deserved to be on pole, no doubt. So, I think the car was good. That’s why I apologised, I said, ‘sorry guys, I messed up a bit at turn one’. It’s a tricky corner. If you get it right, it feels great. It you mess it up, it doesn’t and then you have a long lap trying to make up for it. But obviously there is a limit. Overall, as I said, I was happy but didn’t manage to get everything perfect. Whether it would have been enough, I don’t know, Mark did a very good laps, so we’ll see tomorrow.
Q: Nico, before qualifying you could say that you hadn’t perhaps hooked up the final sector maybe as well as the other two but you put it all together when it really mattered at the end. Maybe you could talk a little bit about your preparation for qualifying.
NR: I progressed really well through the weekend. Set-up progression was massive, it changed so much from the beginning to the end and it’s just very difficult because the first session of each day is so hot that you can’t really learn much and you just have to take an estimated guess where to go for the evening sessions with the set up and so that made it very, very difficult. And in the end… yeah, got there in the end in qualifying. Felt comfortable and there you are. P3. It’s good.
Ends
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Vettel reclaims P1 in Free Practice 2
Yas Marina, 1 Nov 2013: The first day/night session of 2013 saw Sebastian Vettel reclaim the P1 position he held in each session of last week’s Indian Grand Prix. The Red Bull Racing driver finished FP2 with a best time of 1:41.335, one-and-a-half tenths clear of team-mate Mark Webber. Behind them, Lewis Hamilton slotted into third place for Mercedes, narrowly ahead of 2012 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix winner, Kimi Räikkönen of Lotus.
Nico Rosberg was fifth in the second Mercedes, with the McLaren pair of Sergio Pérez and Jenson Button sixth and seventh respectively. Fernando Alonso was eighth and Felipe Massa tenth, the Ferrari pair bracketing the Sauber of Nico Hülkenberg.
The session had no preamble of installation laps, Räikkönen heading straight out on track for a timed run as soon as the light turned green. His first effort on the medium tyre was six-tenths quicker that he had managed earlier in the day. That trend was repeated throughout the opening exchanges, as the combination of lower temperatures and more rubber on the circuit coaxed laps faster than the best of the afternoon out of the prime rubber. Button and then Pérez each held the lead before Vettel rose to the top after 15 minutes.
His was to be the final benchmark on the primes, with option tyres appearing soon after. With 70 minutes of the session remaining, Räikkönen was the first driver to sample the yellow-banded soft tyres. He instantly went two seconds faster than his earlier best lap and reset P1 at 1:41.888. Then, proving the soft tyre is good for more than one fast lap, the Finn improved, recording a time of 1:41.726.
With the floodlighting starting to take over from natural light, Hamilton and then Webber rose to the top before Vettel arrived and, 42 minutes into the session, took P1 with 1:41.434. He too would improve slightly on his next lap, setting his ultimate time of 1:41.335 at the halfway point.
That was the end of the search for outright speed, with the field spending the second 45 minutes concentrating on long runs. The soft tyre appears much more durable at Yas than it was in India, with graining rather than extreme wear characterising the conversations between drivers and engineers, many cars putting over 20 laps onto a set of options.
While the session had no outright drama, there was a spin for Giedo van der Garde, while early afternoon pacesetter Romain Grosjean suffered unspecified technical trouble that kept him in the garage for 25 minutes and then caused him to end his session early.
2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Free Practice Two times
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:41.335
2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1:41.490 +0.155
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:41.690 +0.355
4 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 1:41.726 +0.391
5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:41.758 +0.423
6 Sergio Pérez McLaren 1:42.006 +0.671
7 Jenson Button McLaren 1:42.010 +0.675
8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:42.171 +0.836
9 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber 1:42.324 +0.989
10 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:42.440 +1.105
11 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber 1:42.509 +1.174
12 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:42.607 +1.272
13 Paul di Resta Force India 1:42.806 +1.471
14 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:42.952 +1.617
15 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:42.998 +1.663
16 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:43.152 +1.817
17 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:43.271 +1.936
18 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:43.565 +2.230
19 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:44.138 +2.803
20 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:44.459 +3.124
21 Charles Pic Caterham 1:44.525 +3.190
22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:45.565 +4.230ends
File photo of Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. Photo courtesy FIA. -
Vettel clinches fourth World title, thrills the Indian spectators
Greater Noida, 27 Oct 2013: The German giant was in ecstatic mood. He swirled his Red Bull thrice for the much-cheered `donuts’ and smoked the spot as the standing ovation from the crowd in the Grand Stand reached a high crescendo. The smoke slowly gave way and there it was the dreaded `finger’ up for the third time in India as Sebastian Vettel stood triumphant on the car. At he Buddh International Circuit here, he was on a roll again.
He came out of the car and after the antics on the top of the car,
Nico Rosberg of Mercedes AMG Petronas (left) and Romain Grosjean of Lotus lift Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull as he clinches his fourth World Driver’s title at BIC on Sunday. Photo by Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team he bowed down and kissed the asphalt… to complete the `Vettel experience’ for the spectators.
“India, India,” he yelled and jumped in joy, punching in the air. The third consecutive title in India helped him become a `modern great’ in F1 history as he clinched a historic fourth consecutive Driver’s World Championship and became the youngest to do so. Only Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher had that record earlier. In all four drivers have won four titles.
The gloves flew over into the lower tier of the Grand Stand and the two lucky spectators fought for them. “Unbelievable Day,” “Yes, yes, we did it” where his words from the radio.
“I crossed the line, I was empty. I took ages thinking about something today,” he admitted. “It’s one of these moments you wish to say so many things but you can’t.
FIA plays spoilsport
For all the fun and frolic provided by the 26-year old maestro, the FIA found him breaking the rules for not going to the parc ferme directly after the win. By coming back to the grid and entertaining the crowd, Vettel was forced to cross the chequered flag twice and the Red Bull team was fined Euro 25,000.
Earlier, FIA fined Alonso and Webber in Singapore as Webber gave a lift to Alonso. Such comraderie an the antics provided by Vettel are the best bet to bring back crowds to the sport. But FIA and FoM, who are experts in squeezing every inch of pie from everyone involved in the sport, wasted no time making some quick buck.
That controversial win at Malaysia was his first this season Then he got nine victories till now, with three more races to go. And he won all the last six races… Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Korea, Japan and now India. This year he also had six fastest laps, three podiums and a total of 15 races where he finished in points. One DNF does not matter now.
Thus, Vettel won all the three races in India and also took pole in all the three years India hosted an F1 race. The FIA world championship round will not be there in India next year due to scheduling reasons and may return in 2015 as per the existing contract between FIA and JP group, that owns the Buddh International Circuit.
Mercedes AMG Petronas Nico Rosberg finished second while Frenchman Romain Grosjean came third after starting from 17th to complete the podium.
“The car was phenomenal today. It was phenomenal all season to be honest. I couldn’t ask for more,” he added. “I want to say a big thank you to the team, to all the people that were behind us. For sure it was not an easy season, even if people from the outside get the idea that we had it in our hands for quite a while, the last couple of races. But I think it was a difficult one, all in all.
Sebastian Vettel: Making donuts and celebrating his championship! Photo courtesy Infiniti “It was a very difficult one for me personally. To receive boos, even though you haven’t done anything wrong, to overcome that and to give the right answer on the track and finally get the acceptance that I think we’re all looking for as racing drivers… it makes me very proud to join people like Prost, Fangio and Michael.”
The German, starting from pole, held his lead at the start but, on fragile soft compound tyres pitted after just two laps. That dropped him to 17th but as others pitted and the back-markers were dismissed, Vettel flew through the field, and within 10 laps he was up to P6 and pressuring Sahara Force India’s Adrian Sutil.
At the front, with the other soft-tyre starters peeling off towards the pits for a change of tyres, Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber, who had opted to start on the more durable medium tyre, had taken the lead and was 14.5 seconds ahead of the German.
The battle, then, was between the two Red Bull drivers. Having passed Sutil and Daniel Ricciardo, who were on long opening stints and had not pitted, Vettel found himself lodged behind the similarly long-running Sergio Pérez, and Webber seemed to have the upper hand.
On lap 22, however, Vettel bustled past the Mexican and began to close the gap. Webber, recognising the threat pitted on lap 28, taking a set of soft tyres in the search of a burst of pace to maintain a gap. Vettel responded and made his second and final stop three laps later.
Webber did his best to make ground, but on lap 32 his soft tyres were gone and he made his final stop for mediums. He emerged in P4, 12.5 seconds adrift of the German on the same tyres and that was the victory decided.
Webber was still looking set for second place but just eight laps later he was out of the race, an alternator problem ending his afternoon early.
Behind the front pair, Nico Rosberg, who had started on the front row beside Vettel, put in a solid performance to claim second. The Mercedes driver cycled through a largely untroubled two-stop race and was in third place with nine laps to go behind a rapidly slowing Kimi Raikkonen.
The Finn was attempting to make radical one-stop race work. The Lotus driver had started on soft tyres and took on a set of mediums on lap 7. Amazingly, he kept the same set for the next 51 laps, attempting to keep the tyres alive until the finish.
It was a forlorn task, however, and as the last 10 laps came into view, his pace flagged alarmingly. Rosberg swept past on lap 52 to claim second.
“The start was a bit difficult, dropping behind [Felipe] Massa. He was definitely a lot slower,” said Rosberg of his race. “I gave it a go on one lap then on one lap but I couldn’t make it happen and he passed me back on the exit. And then the team did a fantastic strategy. I managed to get by him like that and, yeah, second place, I’m pleased with that. The car was working well today. Important for us to have a normal weekend, so a lot of points and giving Ferrari a run for their money in the Constructors’ [Championship].”
Behind him Raikkonen’s woes weren’t over. Team-mate Romain Grosjean was enjoying a superb afternoon and having started 17th after a miscalculation in qualifying, the Frenchman had made a different one-stop strategy work beautifully to climb to fourth. He eventually passed Raikkonen on lap 56 and claimed his fifth podium finish of the year.
“I would not have bet a penny on me being on the podium today,” said Grosjean afterwards. “But the car came back how it was on Friday. The race pace was really there. We did a very brave strategy – as we did yesterday. I think it was not the time to go safe and it paid off. We’re back on the podium it’s quite amazing from where we started.”
The struggling Raikkonen was later passed by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and then the battling pair of Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez. The McLaren driver won their tussle to take a useful fifth place, ahead of the second Mercedes.
Raikkonen eventually settled for seventh place, having stopped at the end of lap 58 for a new set of softs. Behind him Paul Di Resta finished eighth, ahead of team-mate Adrian Sutil. The final point on offer was claimed by Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo.
Vettel’s victory also meant that Red Bull Racing provisionally sealed a fourth consecutive Formula One Constructors’ Championship with three races in hand.
2013 Indian Grand Prix – Race result
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 60 25
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 60 +29.8 secs 18
3 Romain Grosjean Lotus 60 +39.8 secs 15
4 Felipe Massa Ferrari 60 +41.6 secs 12
5 Sergio Perez McLaren 60 +43.8 secs 10
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 60 +52.4 secs 8
7 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 60 +67.9 secs 6
8 Paul di Resta Force India 60 +72.8 secs 4
9 Adrian Sutil Force India 60 +74.7 secs 2
10 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 60 +76.2 secs 1
11 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 60 +78.2 secs
12 Pastor Maldonado Williams 60 +78.9 secs
13 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 59 +1 Lap
14 Jenson Button McLaren 59 +1 Lap
15 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 59 +1 Lap
16 Valtteri Bottas Williams 59 +1 Lap
17 Max Chilton Marussia 58 +2 Lap
18 Jules Bianchi Marussia 58 +2 Lap
19 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 54 +6 Lap
Ret Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 39 +21 Laps
Ret Charles Pic Caterham 35 +25 Laps
Ret Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1 +59 LapsMeanwhile, Sahara Force India took a decisive step forward to retain their sixth place in the constructor’s standing with a double points finish ahead of Sauber who failed to score any points today.
Force India regains form at home race
Paul Di Resta finished in eighth place ahead of teammate Adrian Sutil in ninth.
After the race a delighted Paul said: “It’s great to score points here in India – the team’s home Grand Prix and a really important race for us. We took an aggressive strategy by pitting at the end of the first lap to change from softs to medium tyres – which was always the plan. After that we effectively split the race in two and I pitted again for my second set of medium tyres on lap 30. The other positive is that we’ve steadily improved the car over the last few weeks and I’m feeling more comfortable, so I think we can be optimistic of performing at a similar level in Abu Dhabi next week.”
Adrian Sutil who had to pit towards the end still got into points. He said: “The target was to score points so eighth and ninth places are a great result for us today. My one-stop strategy was the riskier approach and it was only during the race that we decided to go ahead with it. The medium tyres, which I started on, were performing really well and I realised that doing a one-stop race was possible. We thought that the soft tyres would only last around five laps, so I made sure I really looked after them, and in the end I managed just under twenty laps. After some difficult races recently, we showed everybody what we can achieve with some great teamwork today.”
Team Principal and Managing Director Vijay Mally was visibly happy: “Like everybody in the team I am delighted to see both Sahara Force Indias score points in our home race. That’s the goal we set ourselves ahead of the weekend and the six points scored are very important for strengthening our position in the Constructors’ Championship. The second half of the season has been challenging for us, but we showed today that we never give up and that all the recent hard work has paid off. I want to congratulate the engineers for making the right calls with the strategy, the drivers for their strong performances, and the mechanics for consistently quick pit stops. With just three races remaining this season, there is plenty to play for and we will go to Abu Dhabi determined to keep up this momentum.”
NB: Vettel’s championship title is provisional
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It’s a brilliant weekend; hope to make it big: Sebastian Vettel
Greater Noida, 26 Oct 2013: After taking the pole position in India, the reigning world champion who is well-equipped to seal his fourth world championship driver’s title said that he hopes to make it big on Sunday
Vettel and Hamilton in a jovial mood during the FIA Press Conference after qualies on Saturday. A BIC photo DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
3 – Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)
Q: Sebastian, it seems to have just been a seamless weekend for you. It seems to have all gone perfectly so far.
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah – so far it’s a brilliant weekend. The car has run basically very, very well since yesterday morning. We didn’t have to change a lot and through qualifying it just got better when the track ramped up. New tyres again, new tyres again and yeah, the car was amazing. It’s a great circuit, I really like the flow of the track, especially around the middle sector with all the high-speed corners – but for sure it’s not a secret if your car behaves the way you want to through there then for sure you’re going to enjoy that a lot. So, I think we did that today. Great result – also for the team. Obviously Mark is on a different strategy so we’ll see what the race brings tomorrow.
Q: Your third pole position here, you’ve led every lap so far, you must start favourite to win the race tomorrow – and take the ultimate prize.
SV: Yeah – I’m trying not to think about it. Obviously it’s difficult when every second person in the paddock asks you the same question. But I think we’ve done pretty well in the past, focussing on every single step and I don’t see a reason why to change things for tomorrow or the next couple of races. So, yeah, we’re in a good position. I think we worked hard to be there and yeah, tomorrow is a long race, as I touched on, with strategy I think it will be tricky to always do the right thing – but there’s a lot of laps so I think we have a quick package and should be in good shape tomorrow.
Q: Nico, you said yesterday it was a tough day. Obviously a lot of progress made.
Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, and to be honest we’re – I’m – completely on a knife’s edge. Really pushing the limits this weekend, just trying to extract that little tenth more out of the car. Trying different things, new ways, new setups and until now it works. So I’m very pleased with that. Qualifying in second is better than I hoped for – because of Mark being on another strategy, so for the moment it’s looking OK. The race is still going to be tough because it’s very different circumstances here with the Option tyre really struggling at the beginning of the race tomorrow and then Prime will be OK but also the balance of the car is all very different. So, we’ll see.
Q: The strategy really is what it’s down to. Is that preferable for you drivers? Is that something you enjoy?
NR: Well, I’m very interested in it, yeah, but it’s so complex that you really rely on the pit wall to do their job – but of course I prepare for it well before the race and look into it and also discuss what my preference is and all of those things.
Q: Lewis, third on the grid and obviously great that the two Mercedes are second and third – best of the rest as it were – behind Sebastian. What are your feelings?
Lewis HAMILTON: It’s been a tough weekend. It’s been a tough weekend for us and incredible… congratulations to Sebastian, it’s obvious that that’s some serious pace that they have, especially with Webber on the Primes just behind us. But we’ve been pushing, as Nico said, as hard as we can. We really want to get a great result this weekend. Strategy is going to play a huge part but I was a little bit surprised to be where we are but generally, bit by bit, adjusting the set-up and everything, we got a reasonable balance and hopefully tomorrow we can push together to try and stay ahead of the rest.
Q: Any traffic issues out there?
LH: I did have through eight and nine. I did have someone in front of me – I’m not really sure who it was, I was so focussed on the road. It didn’t help (To Vettel: “It might have been you!”). I think it may have been one of the Red Bulls, but I probably didn’t lose too much time. Yeah, anyways, look forward to tomorrow.
Q: Sebastian, did you consider the same strategy as Mark?
SV: Well, I have to start on the different tyre so obviously the strategy is different. It’s all difficult now, as Nico touched on, obviously. It’s very interesting, surely not easy. I think in the end if everybody does his bit then it probably doesn’t matter too much. Surely the race will different in the beginning if you start on the opposite tyre. So for us three I think it’s the same thing but then obviously I think Mark is the first car on Primes – with a different strategy.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian: 43rd pole position, as I said, you’ve got an amazing record around here. What is it about this circuit?
SV: I don’t know. I really like this circuit, especially the middle sector. I think it’s very challenging with all the fast, or high-speed corners. It really depends, obviously, if the car does what you want. I think that’s what all of us enjoy and in particular you get to enjoy that around these couple of corners. So, yeah, the car’s been strong since Friday morning, since yesterday morning. We didn’t have to adjust that much. Of course you always trim a little bit – in the right direction hopefully. But, yeah, we’ve been very strong on both compounds, so a good result, and also a good result for the team with Mark sitting in fourth, right behind those two guys.
Q: Interesting with that strategy certainly. I wondered if you’d considered that or how much of a threat that strategy is?
SV: Which one?
Q: With the medium tyre.
SV: Well, difficult to say now. Obviously we decided to go for what I did together, and Mark decided to go for the opposite. So, yeah, what turns out to be the right strategy, we’ll find out tomorrow. But I’m sure the race is long and you will have plenty of time to make up. In the end I think the strategies shouldn’t determine the result that much. We’re got very good pace, the car, as I said, behaves well around here, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.
Q: Have you solved the problem – if there was a problem – about the start from Japan?
SV: Well, we just got surprised by how low the grip was, I think. Yeah, obviously, both then, I think we’ve been a bit too aggressive, too much wheel-slip and the guys behind us had a better start. So, for sure, we’ll try to do better tomorrow – but quite confident. I think the starts we had before that were pretty good. Korea, I had a very good start, so I think we know how to do it, we just need to get it all right.
Q: Nico, easily your best qualifying here, your previous best was seventh a couple of years ago – so you must be very pleased with that.
NR: I am, yeah, definitely. Coming here I knew it was going to be trying to be best of the rest and managed to do that really well today with second place. And even getting Mark because he’s on a different strategy. So, yeah, I’m pleased with that. It’s really been a tough weekend because we really just pushed the limits, completely on everything, to try to extract that tenth or two more out of the car. I think up to now it’s been successful. It’s been very, very difficult, on a knife’s edge all the time but for now it’s worked, it seems. We’re a step forward from where we were in recent races and that’s good to see. But still a long race tomorrow.
Q: Question for both you and Lewis really. Did you consider going the medium tyre route?
NR: Well of course it’s always a consideration. It was a consideration for tomorrow but we decided that soft tyre was the best way to go.
Q: Do you feel it was a bit of gamble to go that way?
NR: No, not a gamble. It was the best thing to do from my point of view.
Q: To go on the mediums would have been a gamble?
NR: Not really a gamble either because that strategy is also a good one, yeah? But we just through our one was better.
Q: Lewis, basically happy with third or do you think you could have pipped Nico?
LH: It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. Nico did a great job, he’s been strong all weekend and on my side, I’ve struggled a little bit through this weekend. I struggled a little bit with something different on the car this weekend which Nico had had experience of seeing maybe in the past. I came to grips with it really quite quickly at the end and I’m really happy with the result and the lap time that I was able to get. There’s always a little bit of time everywhere but we’ll try and push these guys as hard as we can in the race obviously. They’re in another world but we’ll try to stay ahead of the rest.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazetta dello Sport) Nico and Lewis, obviously, as you said, you are the best of the rest and probably Sebastian will do the race by himself and you’re going to control Ferrari more for second place in the Constructors’ championship. Do you think that Alonso’s strategy, starting with medium, could be a threat to you or do you feel confident that you have better pace than them here?
NR: Well, we’ve been a little bit quicker, I feel, until now, the whole weekend, but of course that strategy is a threat, because there’s not that much difference between the two strategies so for sure we need to keep an eye on, them.
Q: (Sudhir P. Chandran – Chequered Flag) Sebastian , I’m curious to know what kind of music or chant do you listen to on your headphones before qualifying and the race, every single time, to get on top, every time you’ve gone out?
NR: Didn’t you say Justin Bieber last time? No?
SV: No.
NR: Ok, I must have misunderstood or misheard that one
SV: It’s not really… it’s music, yes, but it’s more like melodies, no singing, so no Justin Bieber. I think that was on your iPod. In the end, it’s not a secret, it’s just music that gets me or tries to get me in the zone so that I hopefully get the best out of myself.
Q: (Shridhar Potdar – Sakal Media) Sebastian, the second part of the season has always been fruitful for you, the last two seasons when you have delivered most and this year also you are delivering your best in the second part of the season. Is there anything special about the races, especially in Asia?
SV: Not a lot, really. I’m trying hard in the first half as well. Obviously the last couple of years it was a benefit to do well in the second half. I think generally there’s no track in the calendar that I dislike. I think towards the end, we’ve got very good tracks such as here and the best one, I think, Suzuka. For the last race, maybe there’s a little bit of that but I don’t think there’s a reason why we perform better in the second half than the first one. I think, as a team, we’ve been working very hard and very consciously on our fitness; it’s a long year for all the teams so that we make sure that we’re still on top of our game towards the end.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Nico and Lewis answered this earlier, so just for Seb: in a few weeks we will be in Texas, what are your thoughts on the track and also the ambiance at the track and in the city of Austin?
SV: Well, I think it was fantastic last year. To be honest, we were all very surprised. Obviously, up to that point, Formula One didn’t have the best record in the United States, so it was great to see that there were so many people. The whole city… I think that’s really the special thing that we enjoy, apart from the track itself, that the whole city was living the Grand Prix. You could feel that there was a special vibe and that everyone was looking forward to the event. I think it was generally very positive. We obviously look forward to going there again. I think the track is tricky, very challenging, mixed, with high speed and slow corners. It was nice to be on the podium last year, nice to get a different kind of hat. Yeah, we’ll try to do it again.
Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) Sebastian, it is known how much you admire the history of F1 so what is your top five drivers of all time?
SV: I don’t think it’s fair to only name… that for sure there is more than five. There are different times in Formula One so if you look back recently, you’ve got a couple of drivers racing now but obviously if you don’t look too far back, drivers like Mika (Hakkinen), Michael (Schumacher), Ayrton (Senna), Nigel Mansell dominated their times in a way – Prost – so you cover quite a lot of the last couple of years. After that, there’s guys like Lauda, Piquet. I don’t think it’s fair to highlight one-two-three because Formula One has changed.
Q: (Shridhar Potdar – Sakal Media) Sebastian after the qualifying was over, you took an instrument from your teammate and checked the brakes. This shows 100 percent involvement, that you’re very serious about the set-up and the technical preparation of the car and 100 percent involvement is giving you 100 percent commitment and earning nearly 100 percent success. So how much involvement and what motivates you to be so into the game?
SV: Well, I think first off, if you don’t give your 100 percent, then you would be disappointed because you didn’t give your 100 percent… No, I’m joking. It’s a team effort at the end of the day, you know. The team is pushing very hard and you also feel that you have to deliver as well, as I feel part of the team, so I feel that I’ve got to do my bit right as well and for sure you’re very conscious, so you try to find the right set-up. The team obviously tries to support you as much as possible, before the race, at the race weekend. I love what I do, it’s days like this when you get out and the car feels fantastic, it’s the greatest reward you can get so for sure you want to use all that 100 percent.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, if you look at the previous three years when you won the championship, the day before, what is the difference? What is your approach, how are you going to approach tomorrow’s race?
SV: To be honest, I think they’ve been very similar. Obviously two of the three years have been very different: 2011, you could say that it was more relaxed. Obviously 2010 and 2012 was a different situation but at the end of the day there’s no secret, no secret preparation. I think we all have a certain routine we go through before a race but also the night before. I don’t think I did anything special the last three times, not that I can remember and I wasn’t really looking forward to the race, saying that ‘yeah, tomorrow is the day, could be the day.’ I was basically trying to focus on the race and in a way, trying to ignore the fact that it could be the decisive race. At the end of the day, you also have so many races a year that on the last race of the season, if you do your best and it’s enough then it’s fine, if you do your best and it’s not enough, then it’s not the last race that’s to blame.
Q: (Nirmal John – Fortune India Magazine) I just wanted to ask your views on Formula E which is the new electric car racing series which is in the works. How sustainable is that kind of racing series and what does that signify in terms of the future of Formula One meeting something like electric cars?
SV: I don’t like it at all. I think it’s not the future, I think the people come here to feel Formula One and there’s not much to feel when a car goes by and you don’t even hear anything else but the wind. Maybe I’m very old fashioned, but I think Formula One needs to scream, needs to be loud, there needs to be the vibration. That’s what I remember from the first time I went to see Formula One in 1992 for free practice at Hockenheim, even though it was wet and the cars didn’t go out, but once they did their installation laps it was a great feeling just to be there and hear them coming through the forest and feel it through the ground. That’s why I’m not a big fan at all.
NR: Well, it’s an interesting thing, for sure, something new and I know there’s a lot of interest and it’s planned to be in the cities so it’s bringing the race to the people, not the people to the race and of course it’s a bit of the future, so it will be interesting to see how it goes. We need to wait and see.
LH: I agree with both of them.
Q: (Lokendra Pratap Sahi – The Telegraph, Kolkata) Seb, what has made you the driver you are?
SV: I don’t know. I think in the end there’s a little bit of influence on the guy you become but also you have your preference in life, you have a certain thing called taste so you do what in the end you’d like. Sometimes some people lead you to one thing or another but in the end you make the decision. On track, obviously, if you look at my career, I think there’s a lot of people that I had behind me supporting me from an early age but to be fair, when I started, all this was not even… we didn’t even really dream about it. I had a hobby and I started together with my father to go racing with the whole family as well. Obviously it became a little bit more serious, a little bit faster, a little bit more serious. I think you really go step by step. In the end, I think it’s passion that drives us all, the love that we have for the sport, the love we have to challenge ourselves, challenge the cars and nowadays instead of racing with go-karts we just end up in bigger cars on bigger tracks with more people watching. I think the core hasn’t changed.
Ends
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Vettel claims third pole in India
Greater Noida, 26 Oct 2013: Sebastian Vettel claimed his third consecutive Indian Grand Prix pole position in emphatic style at the Buddh International Circuit, beating out Nico Rosberg by over seven tenths of a second, with Lewis Hamilton third.
Vettel just needs to finish 5th or ahead to clinch his 4th Driver’s World Championship on Sunday.
Pole sitter Sebastian Vettel (GER) of Red Bull Racing celebrates in parc ferme during the Indian Grand Prix at BIC on Saturday in Greater Noida. © Buddh International Circuit In a Q3 segment shaped by race strategy, the top three qualified on the soft tyre, the quicker of the two compounds on offer. However, a number of top-10 runners opted to complete their runs on the medium tyre, including Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber, who settled for fourth place in the belief that a longer first stint in the race may well bGreae advantageous tomorrow. The others starting on the medium are Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who qualified eighth, and the McLaren drivers Sergio Perez and Jenson Button, who qualified ninth and tenth respectively.
At the sharp end of the action, however, Vettel was untouchable. In Q1, when Alonso put on the soft tyre and surged into P1 with a lap of 1:25.934, Vettel slotted into P2 with an identical time, to the thousandth of a second, on the slower medium compound. As the clock ran out on the session and Lotus’ Romain Grosjean, who had gambled on a medium-shod opening segment, was eliminated, Vettel sailed into Q2 as the only man not to use the option tyre.
In Q2 he was equally unstoppable. Finally armed with the soft tyre, he blasted into P1 with his first flying lap, his time of 1:24.568 already seven tenths up on his 2012 pole position time. The lap was good enough to see him through to Q3 in P1, ahead of Alonso who was the only other driver in that segment to dip below the 1m25s mark.
In Q3, Vettel simply drove away from the pack. His first run yielded a time of 1:24.119 and though Rosberg and Hamilton explored the limits of their Mercedes, neither could get remotely close to the Red Bull driver’s time.
Vettel attempted to lower his benchmark with a second run but a small error midway through the lap put paid to that. It mattered little, he had claimed his 43rd career pole and put himself in the ideal position to challenge for a third Indian GP win, which if achieved will also garner the German his fourth championship title on the trot.
“I’m trying not to think about it,” said Vettel of his title chances. “But I think we’ve done pretty well in the past, focusing on every single step and I don’t see a reason why we’d change things for tomorrow. We’re in a good position. Tomorrow is a long race and with strategy it will be tricky to always do the right thing – but there are a lot of laps so I think we have a quick package and should be in good shape tomorrow.”
Rosberg, meanwhile, admitted that he had taken his Mercedes to the limit in pursuit of Vettel’s time.
“To be honest I’m completely on a knife’s edge,” he said. “Really pushing the limits this weekend, just trying to extract that little tenth more out of the car. Trying different things, new ways, new set-ups and until now it works. So I’m very pleased with that.
“Qualifying in second is better than I hoped for – because of Mark being on another strategy, so for the moment it’s looking OK,” he added. “The race is still going to be tough because it’s very different circumstances here, with the option tyre really struggling at the beginning of the race tomorrow and then prime will be OK but also the balance of the car is very different. So, we’ll see.”
The result is a positive for Mercedes in the team’s bid to overtake Ferrari in the race for second place in the Constructors’ Championship, as Hamilton admitted.
“We really want to get a great result this weekend,” he said. “Strategy is going to play a huge part but I was a little bit surprised to be where we are. But generally, bit by bit, adjusting the set-up and everything , we got a reasonable balance and hopefully tomorrow we can push together to try and stay ahead of the rest.”
Behind the top three, Webber will be the first to start on the medium tyre, a choice he said puts him in a “good position to capitalise” in the race.
“We thought it was worth trying something a little bit different with the strategy today, so that’s why we ran the primes in Q3,” he said. “We thought we would probably be a bit further back than the second row to be honest, so it turned out to be a good session for us.
“It’s not easy to manage the primes when you just get a look at them in Q3, but I think we did a good job and we didn’t leave too much out there,” he added. “We’re in a good position to capitalise on a different approach tomorrow. The option tyre shouldn’t last too long and we’ll be on a different strategy. That said, I’ll still have to use the softer tyre in the race at some point, so let’s see.”
The row behind the Australian will be occupied by soft-tyre starters Felipe Massa of Ferrari, who finished fifth, and Kimi Raikkonen, who will hoping to salvage something for Lotus after the team’s medium-tyre Q1 gamble with team-mate Grosjean backfired.
Nico Hulkenberg will line up seventh on the grid, ahead of Alonso. Perez and Button will occupy row five.
Grosjean’s elimination was the only major upset of Q1, in which the other fallers, from P18 back, were Pastor Maldonado, Jules Bianchi, Giedo van der Garde, Charles Pic and Max Chilton.
In Q2, Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo missed out on a place in the final segment by less than a tenth of a second and had to settle for P11. He’ll be joined on row six by Force India’s Paul Di Resta. The Scot’s team-mate Adrian Sutil finished 13th with the second Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne 14th. The final two spots in Q2 were taken by Williams’ Valtteri Bottas and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez.
2013 Indian Grand Prix – Qualifying Result
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:24.119
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:24.871
3 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:24.941
4 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1:25.047
5 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:25.201
6 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 1:25.248
7 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 1:25.334
8 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:25.826
9 Sergio Perez McLaren 1:26.153
10 Jenson Button McLaren 1:26.487
11 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:25.519
12 Paul di Resta Force India 1:25.711
13 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:25.740
14 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:25.798
15 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:26.134
16 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:26.336
17 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:26.577
18 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:26.842
19 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:26.970
20 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:27.105
21 Charles Pic Caterham 1:27.487
22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:28.138ends
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Vettel fastest in fog-delayed final practice
Greater Noida, 26 Oct 2013: Sebastian Vettel continued to dominate preparations for the Indian Grand Prix, by topping the timesheet in a shortened final practice session at the Buddh International Circuit with a lap of 1:25.332, half a second clear of team-mate Mark Webber.
Sebastian Vettel tops FP3 on Saturday at the Indian GP. A BIC photo Vettel’s closest non-Red Bull rival was Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso who finished 0.773 down. Fourth place in the session was taken by Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg, with Lotus’ Romain Grosjean fifth.
The session had been due to start at 11am local time but was delayed by 15 minutes as smog reduced visibility across the circuit, conditions deemed unsuitable for the medical helicopter to take off should there be a serious incident.
The delay was extended to half an hour before a revision from race control signaled that a 40-minute session w:ould begin at 20 minutes past the hour.
The shortened timeframe led to a mixed programme with most teams still opting for altered run plans on the medium tyre before a late switch to the soft compound.
Red Bull Racing chose differently, however. Webber began with a run on the prime medium tyre, but Vettel returned to the garage after an installation lap and after a short wait headed out on track on the option soft Pirellis with 26 minutes left on the clock.
At that stage, with the rest of the field on medium tyres, McLaren’s Sergio Perez was in P1, with a time of 1:27.136. Vettel blasted past that benchmark with his first flying lap on the options – logging a time of 1:25.332, just under four tenths quicker than his best soft-tyre time from FP2. Webber then took on option tyres and slotted into P2, 0.560 behind his team-mate.
As the bulk of the field retired to their respective garages to make the switch from prime tyres, Vettel headed out on track for another run on the options.
This time, however, his stint was much longer. Given a target time by his pit wall, the defending champion set about testing the limits of the soft tyre with a long stint that abandoned pursuit of performance in favour of research for the race. It was a similar story behind him and unusually for FP3 the times did not change much during the final moments as the focus appeared to shift to exploring the durability, or not, of the soft tyre.
With Grosjean fifth, sixth place in the session went to Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. He was followed by Force India’s Paul Di Resta and Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg. Ninth place went to McLaren’s Jenson Button with Lewis Hamilton tenth in the second Mercedes.
2013 Indian Grand Prix Free Practice Three times
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:25.332
2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1:25.892 +0.560
3 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:26.105 +0.773
4 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber 1:26.306 +0.974
5 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:26.350 +1.018
6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:26.435 +1.103
7 Paul di Resta Force India 1:26.438 +1.106
8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:26.441 +1.109
9 Jenson Button McLaren 1:26.489 +1.157
10 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:26.557 +1.225
11 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 1:26.635 +1.303
12 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:26.641 +1.309
13 Sergio Pérez McLaren 1:26.737 +1.40514 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:26.847 +1.515
15 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:26.876 +1.544
16 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:26.883 +1.551
17 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:27.259 +1.927
18 Charles Pic Caterham 1:27.941 +2.609
19 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber 1:28.019 +2.687
20 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:28.498 +3.166
21 Max Chilton Marussia 1:29.094 +3.762
22 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:29.169 +3.837ends
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Vettel tops time charts in FP2; looks set to clinch the 4th World title
Greater Noida, 25 Oct 2013: Having finished FP1 with a clear advantage over his rivals, Sebastian Vettel maintained his advantage on Friday afternoon. The Red Bull Racing driver was the only driver to dip into the 1m25s bracket during FP2, finishing the 90-minute session with a best time of 1:25.722. As had been the case in the morning, his nearest challenger was teammate Mark Webber, the Australian finishing just under three-tenths of a second in arrears.
Behind the Red Bulls, Romain Grosjean was best of the rest for Lotus, ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. Fernando recovered from his morning gearbox issues to finish fifth quickest. Nico Rosberg was sixth in the second Mercedes, Felipe Massa seventh in the second Ferrari and Kimi Räikkönen eighth in the second Lotus. McLaren completed the top ten with Sergio Pérez ninth fastest and Jenson Button tenth.
The session followed the usual FP2 pattern with cars resuming practice using the medium tyre, before switching to the soft tyre part-way through the session. In the early exchanges on the harder compound Vettel quickly moved into P1, albeit considerably down on his best time from the morning session. Radio conversations with his race engineer suggested Vettel had a non-functional KERS. He was soon superseded in the standings by Webber and then Rosberg.
Having curtailed his first run, Vettel was an early-adopter of the soft tyre. Twenty-eight minutes into the session he dropped under the 1m26s barrier and set what would be the fastest time of the afternoon. Vettel’s improvement of over 1.5s on the soft rubber was exaggerated by his earlier KERS issue but even taking that into account it is clear the yellow-banded Pirelli have a pace advantage of around a second.
As the session moved toward the halfway point, Vettel’s challengers made their own short runs on the soft rubber. None got close to vanquishing the world champion from the top of the order, however, and once the cars were fuelled for long rules, the timesheet was set.
The second half of the session demonstrated the fragility of the soft compound on the sinuous, high-speed Buddh International track with several drivers returning to the pits with heavily worn tyres. The only major incident was a stoppage for Pastor Maldonado. His Williams shed a right-front wheel nut and he pulled off the circuit with a puncture.
2013 Indian Grand Prix Free Practice Two times
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:25.722
2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1:26.011 +0.289
3 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:26.220 +0.498
4 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:26.399 +0.677
5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:26.430 +0.708
6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:26.582 +0.860
7 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:26.601 +0.879
8 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 1:26.632 +0.910
9 Sergio Pérez McLaren 1:26.857 +1.135
10 Jenson Button McLaren 1:26.972 +1.250
11 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:27.304 +1.582
12 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:27.375 +1.653
13 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:27.429 +1.707
14 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber 1:27.491 +1.769
15 Paul di Resta Force India 1:27.608 +1.886
16 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:27.720 +1.998
17 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber 1:27.949 +2.227
18 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:28.431 +2.709
19 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:28.692 +2.970
20 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:28.799 +3.077
21 Charles Pic Caterham 1:29.366 +3.644
22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:30.164 +4.442eom
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Vettel’s domination continues in India
Airtel grid girls pose with the new trophies at a presentation on Friday at the Buddh International Circuit. A BIC photo Greater Noida, 25 Oct 2013: Red Bull Racing’s Sebastian Vettel finished FP1, the first Free Practice session on top of the timesheets at the Buddh International Circuit here on Friday morning. Outside the track, the Supreme Court deferred the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation which sought the cancellation of the Indian GP this year over tax issues. The apex court will hear the case next week and the buzz continues at the BIC.
His time of 1:26.683 was just under two-tenths faster than that of his nearest challenger, team-mate Mark Webber. For Vettel it extends an extraordinary run of dominance at this event: At the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in 2011, he finished both FP1 and FP2 second fastest, since then he’s been top in every practice session, qualified on pole twice, won both races and led every lap. On the back of five consecutive victories in 2013, he didn’t give his opposition even the faintest cause for optimism this morning. Meanwhile, the new trophies for the Indian GP this year were displayed at a presentation today.
Behind the Red Bulls, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg finished the session third quickest, followed by the Lotus of Romain Grosjean and then Lewis Hamilton in the second Mercedes. The McLarens took sixth and seventh with Jenson Button in front of Sergio Pérez. Then came Felipe Massa for Ferrari, Nico Hülkenberg for Sauber and Valtteri Bottas completed the top ten for Williams.
The session followed a familiar pattern: everyone ran an early installation before returning to the garage to wait out the first half-hour. Daniel Ricciardo was the exception: mechanical problems left him stranded into the garage, not to emerge until 35 minutes had elapsed.
By that time Pérez was completing his first run, going out 24 minutes into the session and setting a benchmark time of 1:28.207, with the track entirely to himself. As he returned to the pits more car started to go out, and by the halfway mark Pérez led a field of ten cars with times on the board – though none of this season’s front-runners were among them.
That changed as Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and Lotus all got down to serious work. Button briefly held the lead before Rosberg took over at the top and then, with 50 minutes elapsed, Vettel rose to the top with 1:27.196 on his second flying lap – a full seven-tenths quicker than the Mercedes. Rosberg snatched the place back briefly but Vettel was still getting up to speed and regained top spot as he came around again.
Meanwhile, attention was focussed on Fernando Alonso, crawling around the Buddh International Circuit with his Ferrari seemingly stuck in second gear. The Spaniard limped back into the pits, his session over. His team later confirmed he had a gearbox issue.
The final half-hour of FP1 saw cars pushing harder as the seldom-used circuit rubbered-in. It lead to a slew of off-track moments with drivers struggling for front-end grip. There were also spins for Williams’ Pastor Maldonado and the Force India of James Calado, the latter substituting for Paul di Resta. No-one looked like challenging Vettel but Webber did manage to get ahead of Rosberg to ensure Red Bull finished the session with a one-two on the timesheet.
2013 Indian Grand Prix Free Practice One times
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 1:26.683
2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 1:26.871 +0.188
3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:26.899 +0.216
4 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:26.990 +0.307
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:27.227 +0.544
6 Jenson Button McLaren 1:27.335 +0.652
7 Sergio Pérez McLaren 1:27.416 +0.733
8 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:27.692 +1.009
9 Nico Hülkenberg Sauber 1:27.770 +1.087
10 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:27.800 +1.117
11 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:28.035 +1.352
12 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:28.214 +1.531
13 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 1:28.336 +1.653
14 Pastor Maldonado Williams 1:28.342 +1.59
15 Adrian Sutil Force India 1:28.468 +1.785
16 Esteban Gutiérrez Sauber 1:28.538 +1.855
17 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 1:28.730 +2.047
18 James Calado Force India 1:29.197 +2.514
19 Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1:29.413 +2.730
20 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:29.560 +2.877
21 Charles Pic Caterham 1:30.026 +3.343
22 Max Chilton Marussia 1:30.471 +3.788ends
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Red Bull domination continues as Vettel takes his 9th win this year
Suzuka, 13 Oct 2013: Sebastian Vettel won a close tactical battle with team-mate Mark Webber to land his ninth victory of the season at the Japanese Grand Prix, the 15th round of the Formula One World Championship here on Sunday. The result edged the German ever closer to his fourth title as chief championship rival Fernando Alonso finished fourth behind Romain Grosjean. Meanwhile, Red Bull
Podium photo at the Japanese Grand Prix by Lotus F1 team. Both Vettel, starting second, and pole position man Webber made poor getaways when the lights went out. After initially trying to defend, Webber took a wide line into turn one, avoiding problems. Vettel though was in trouble. Lewis Hamilton and Grosjean passed on either side but as they funnelled into turn one, Vettel’s front wing clipped the right rear of Hamilton’s car.
The Mercedes driver was forced to pit with a puncture and later had to retire from the race as a result of the incident.
Vettel, though, escaped intact, but down in third place behind Webber and leader Grosjean. The situation led to a re-evaluation of his race strategy and Vettel was then told to back off from pursuit of Webber to save his tyres for a slightly longer first stint. Webber meanwhile, would soon move to a three-stop race in a bid to find pace at the end.
The Australian made his way to the pit lane after 11 laps and was followed a lap later by Grosjean, but Vettel stayed out until lap 14 before taking on the hard tyre and beginning a long stint designed to push him ahead of his rivals.
Behind the leading trio, Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo, one of only two drivers to start on prime hard tyre, rose to fourth after the others had stopped and was soon backing up the field behind. That played into the hands of Alonso who, after starting eighth, passed team-mate Felipe Massa and closed on Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg before Ricciardo made his way to the pit lane. A drive-through penalty for fifth-placed Nico Rosberg following an unsafe release from his pit stop also helped Alonso.
Ahead, though, Vettel was patiently stalking leader Grosjean and second-placed Webber.
And when Webber made his second stop on lap 25, Vettel pounced. He upped his pace and began to close on Grosjean and when the Frenchman made his second stop on lap 29, Vettel swept past into the lead.
Webber, though, was on fresher tyres and with Grosjean now third, the Australian began to close the gap to his Red Bull team-mate. A 12-second deficit dropped to seven by lap 37 when Vettel made his second stop and it looked like Webber might make a fight of it.
Vettel though was sensing victory. Third on the road after his stop he chased down Grosjean and passed the Lotus on lap 40. And when leader Webber made his third stop on lap 42, Vettel reclaimed the lead and powered towards the flag.
His team-mate attempted to respond with the better pace of his fresh medium tyres but a sequence of slow laps behind a defensive Grosjean on old tyres put paid to Webber’s chances and he was forced to settle for second behind his team-mate.
“We started already to go longer than Romain and Mark in the first stint,” said Vettel after taking his fourth career win in Suzuka. “We took into account that we were a second a lap slower for two or three laps compared to them in order to get the range in the next stint and then tried to extend that to really put them under pressure towards the end. That was, let’s say, the game plan.
“Obviously after the first pitstop, Mark decided to go for the three-stop which wasn’t far off. Before the race I think we targeted more towards two stop but the tyres weren’t holding up as well as probably we thought,” he added. “I really tried to manage the gaps in the beginning of the stint and then close the gap, which worked brilliantly, especially with Romain. The end of the second stint I was just on his tail when he pitted, able to stay out another couple of laps and then I had more or less fresh tyres when I was able to pass him, so, yeah, great strategy.”
For Webber it was a bitter sweet occasion, satisfying to be on the podium in his final visit to Suzuka in an F1 car but disappointing to have missed out on victory.
“I would have liked one more step on the podium but there were different strategies going on,” said Webber. “Seb went longer in the first stint and then it unloaded his race a bit better than mine at the end. So, in general, pretty happy with second but you always want a bit more but we got the best out of it today.
“Both of us had very poor starts, which put us on the back foot a little bit and then after that it was just really trying to pace the car again on the tyres and making sure they survived to do the sort of strategy we wanted to.”
Alonso, meanwhile, passed Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg on lap 45 to claim a fourth place that at least keeps the Drivers’ Championship battle alive for another race. The Spaniard now has 207 points, 90 adrift of Vettel.
Behind the Ferrari driver, Kimi Raikkonen also found a way past Hulkenberg to take fifth place. It was still a good weekend for the improving Sauber team, however, as Hulkenberg claimed eight points with sixth place and team-mate Esteban Gutierrez claimed the first six points of his F1 career with seventh place. Jenson Button finished ninth for McLaren and the final point was taken by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.
2013 Japanese Grand Prix – Race Result
1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing 53 1:26:49.301 25
2 Mark Webber Red Bull Racing 53 +7.1 secs 18
3 Romain Grosjean Lotus 53 +9.9 secs 15
4 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 53 +45.6 secs 12
5 Kimi Räikkönen Lotus 53 +47.3 secs 10
6 Nico Hulkenberg Sauber 53 +51.6 secs 8
7 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 53 +71.6 secs 6
8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 53 +72.0 secs 4
9 Jenson Button McLaren 53 +80.8 secs 2
10 Felipe Massa Ferrari 53 +89.2 secs 1
11 Paul di Resta Force India 53 +98.5 secs
12 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 52 +1 Lap
13 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso 52 +1 Lap
14 Adrian Sutil Force India 52 +1 Lap
15 Sergio Perez McLaren 52 +1 Lap
16 Pastor Maldonado Williams 52 +1 Lap
17 Valtteri Bottas Williams 52 +1 Lap
18 Charles Pic Caterham 52 +1 Lap
19 Max Chilton Marussia 52 +1 Lap
Ret Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 7 Puncture damage
Ret Giedo van der Garde Caterham 0 Accident
Ret Jules Bianchi Marussia 0 Accidentends
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For once Vettel is very happy with the fans; says a big thank you!
DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Romain GROSJEAN (Lotus)PODIUM INTERVIEWS
(Conducted by Eddie Jordan)
Q: [Sebastian] Nine times a winner already this season – but the championship is still alive. Tell me all about it.
Sebastian VETTEL: Konnichi-wa, first of all. Yeah, first of all, I would like to say thank you to all the fans. Every time we come here, the appreciation, the respect we get as drivers is incredible. Obviously, I’m blown away with today’s race. I had a very, very poor start. I think it was right between Romain and, I think, Lewis and I clipped a little bit the front wing. I think Lewis had a puncture after that. I couldn’t go anywhere. After that we were patient, looked after the tyres and had incredible pace towards the end. So we managed to get past Romain, beat Mark on another strategy so, all in all, fantastic. I’m so overwhelmed every time we come here. Thank you very much again for the support.
Q: Who made the final decision on what tyres you were going to run? We got the impression you made the decision right at the very last moment.
SV: Well, to be honest, it happened… I think the decision was already made in the first stint because we stayed out longer, so we obviously took into account that we lapped slower than the others who were on fresh tyres, in order to push them later in the race. We had a similar race in 2011, where I think I came in always as the first and I was under enormous pressure towards the end of the race and got passed by two cars. So this time we did it the other way around: had enough pace in the car to look after the tyres, control the race. Yeah, it was not easy to make the two-stop work, especially in the middle stint – but I think the first stint was crucial to make the decision to stay out and then decide for a two-stop, which turned out to be… [interrupted]
Q: Mark, your last grand prix in a Formula One car at Suzuka, one of the great all-time tracks. Tell us about it.
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, it’s an amazing circuit. The race today was pretty good, I’d say. Obviously I would have liked one more step on the podium but there were different strategies going on. Seb went longer in the first stint and then it unloaded his race a bit better than mine at the end. So, in general, pretty happy with second but, yeah, hey, you always want a bit more but we got the best out of what I could today. Both of us had very poor starts, which put us on the back foot a little bit and then after that it was just really trying to pace the car again on the tyres and making sure they survived to do the sort of strategy we wanted to. In the end we went to three-stop, which put us a little bit on the back foot but still we got back to where we were.
Q: Romain, we were writing you off last year, we didn’t think you’d have a seat, and here you are, on the podium. How does that feel?
Romain GROSJEAN: Well, much better than last year for sure. What a start! Terrific. From the past not the best memories here but today was just a very, very good race. The car was fantastic on option tyres to start the race with and we did manage to pull away. Then the Red Bulls catch us a little bit I think, but generally with the work we did, we are the only ones able to follow those guys. We almost catch the Bull I said to my engineer today – it’s a home race for my engineer and I think he’s very happy. Always very good to come here, always very proud of the fans and being on the podium at such a difficult track – it’s good.
Q: Sebastian, you’re ever so close to pulling it off with your fourth consecutive championship. What are your thoughts going into the next race?
SV: First of all, I would like to enjoy today. I think it was a fantastic race. I love this track. As I said, the people are great and make it a very, very special place for us. I’d love to enjoy that first, obviously it does no harm when you win, for the championship. I’ve won now four times here in Suzuka, which is incredible. I’m really looking forward to next year, to be honest. Regarding the championship, as I said, I think obviously we have a very, very good gap but we still keep pushing. I think we’ve proven in the last couple of years that we never give up. I think we’ve won one or two championships because of that. Obviously this year it looks very good at this stage – but it’s not over before it’s over.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, you really did seem to enjoy this victory hugely. Is it because of the various problems that happened along the way? The start, for example, the first corner, one or two lock-ups, an interesting tactic…
SV: Yeah, certainly – but I think mostly it’s because of the circuit and the fans to be honest. It’s one of the highlights in the year. I love this track and I’ve been very, very fortunate to have a great car in the past and against this year, being able to finish on the podium and win four times now. Incredible. When we leave the hotel in the morning I think it’s the same for all of us. It makes it so special. The people are crazy about Formula One. They really, yeah, admire us, which is very nice. They love what we do and appreciate the fact we go around. You have the people on the grandstand yesterday, I ran the circuit and there were I think 5,000 people on the grandstand just watching. They are amazed by Formula One and I think that makes it so special and taste so sweet. As you touched on, obviously with the race today, a horrible start but then a fantastic comeback.
Q: That long middle stint – a 23-lap middle stint – and there were one or two lock-ups. Were you affected by that or were the tyres in good condition all the way?
SV: Well, you know, you struggle more in the end obviously. I tried to control the gaps. Obviously we started already to go longer than Romain and Mark in the first stint, so we took into account that we lap a second a lap slower for two or three laps compared to them in order to get the range in the next stint and then tried to extend that to really put them under pressure towards the end. That was, let’s say, the game plan. Obviously after the first pit stop I think very soon in the second stint, Mark decided to go for the three-stop, which wasn’t far off. Before the race I think we targeted more towards two stops but the tyres weren’t holding up as well as probably we thought. As I said, I really tried to manage the gaps in the beginning of the stint and then close the gap, which worked brilliantly, especially with Romain. The end of the second stint I was just on his tail when he pitted, able to stay out another couple of laps and then I had more or less fresh tyres when I was able to pass him, so, yeah, great strategy. It obviously worked. We made it… we didn’t lose the patience early on. Tried obviously to make the stints as long as possible to help us at the end of the race.
Q: Mark, I guess you were hoping you were going to be able to challenge Sebastian during the closing stages. That’s what the engineers suggested to both of you in fact – but you just couldn’t get past Romain.
MW: Ah, no. I don’t think the battle was going to be with Sebastian at the end to be honest. I think that it was pretty much done when we didn’t do enough damage on the three-stop against Seb’s pace on the two. I think we tried to race Romain at the start and then in the end we switched to the three. So I was the meat in the sandwich, trying to beat Romain on a two and then all of a sudden we decided to do a three. I was a little bit surprised. I asked was it the right thing to do because I felt we could get to the lap we were looking to get to. Of course Seb was two or three laps longer, four laps maybe but in terms of the target lap that we looked to get for the two-stop I thought was achievable but in the end Seb did a good race, the strategy worked out perfect and yeah, the three was… not absolutely ridiculous but it’s a bit more high risk we know, and you have to clear people obviously, so yeah, piggy in the middle, trying to do both. In the end, we got back to where we were in terms of position but Seb jumped both of us. But a great result for the team, a sensational result for me in my last time here in Japan in Formula One. The fans are incredible. I enjoyed the grand prix today, it was nice to have fresh tyres a bit more, which is always enjoyable around Suzuka. So that was today’s race.
I mentioned drama-filled for Sebastian, one or two things happened to him, what about yourself?
MW: Apart from the shocking start for both Seb and I, that was really it. After that we could plan our race accordingly. It wasn’t what we expected to be honest, both of us didn’t do anything off the front row. So that put us on the back foot already and Romain was quite strong on the option but I don’t think he was that strong on the prime. Anyway, as I say, I did everything I could today. It’s not too bad a result obviously. It’s nice to be back on the podium after the last few races where I think we could have certainly have been there but we weren’t. All in all, I leave here happy and off to Oz tomorrow for a bit more surfing.
Well done. Romain, tell us about that start because it was a lightning one.
RG: Yeah, it was probably one of the best; I just spoke with Seb [about it]. When I dropped the clutch I said ‘whoah, whoah, that’s a good one, come on, come on go for it’. Amazing. Then when you’re leading it makes the thing easier on the first stint. We were very quick on the option. The car was using less the tyres and I could open the gap. Unfortunately, it was less good on prime than option today for some reason, rather than yesterday when it was the opposite, so the pace dropped a little bit and Seb was really too quick for us. I think it would have been nice with Mark until the end of the race but we caught some slower cars, lapped cars, and they really blocked me a lot. I lost the position against Mark. I don’t know if I could have held him until the end but, yeah, it cost me, I think, quite a lot. Never mind, we were the only car to be able to follow them. We did not even think about racing them before the race and the strategy says that our target was Lewis, so, so far it was a pretty good race and for sure being ahead in the first corner helps quite a lot but we did a very good job to come back from a disaster Friday to have a very good Saturday and Sunday.
Q: You were right in the middle of a backmarker battle right at the end there – there was a lot of traffic around. A little bit of sadness having been out in front and finishing third?
RG: I thought it was the day that the first victory was coming. Honestly on option, I did struggle a little bit but then I could pull away to Mark and I said “our car is beautiful today, it’s gonna be good,” and then Mark pitted earlier than what we thought, we fitted the prime – hard tyres – and the degradation was not the same any more and it was making it harder to drive. I think I lost second with the Caterham in the middle stint when Mark catch me just before he pitted and then on the last few laps there were a lot of cars in front of us. I know it’s not easy for anyone to let us by but on such a nice big track it costs you a lot . As my tyres were really on the edge every small aero… wing perturbation will cost me a lot and at the exit of the chicane a little bit of wheelspin and Mark could go for it. So, a bit of a shame to lose the second position but never mind, I think the positives that I gain outweigh… were challenging them and that counts for us.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Mark, you spoke about the second stop but the first one was already pretty early for a two stop strategy. Was it just to do an undercut on Romain, or do you feel that you were in the role of a rabbit to challenge Romain to follow you and then obviously it paid out for Seb?
MW: Yeah, we were obviously looking to get in the lead, to put some pressure on Romain. I don’t think the option was easy to handle for any of us. I wanted to put some pressure on Romain towards the end of that stint. We were more or less in the window for a two stop. As soon as I pitted after the prime, the guys said ‘yeah, we’re on a two stop, it’s no problem. Look after the tyres and we’ll stay on two.’ And then I was on two and then we switched to three so I think they just saw that it was just a quicker way for me to do three stops. That’s what they thought, that was the reason they did it. That’s the reason for that.
Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action and National Speedsport News) Mark, in those laps, you were trying to get Grosjean but you couldn’t quite get him down the straights; what was happening through the chicane and down the pit straight?
MW: Well, at the end of the race, the DRS is not as effective because you’re on the limiter, basically. We managed to get off the chicane a bit better on the… when you arrive on someone you want to get the job done pretty quickly. First sector is obviously not that easy because… Romain is a bit low on tyres but they also had more downforce than us. I was quite low on wing. When I arrived on him, I was obviously hoping to get it done a little bit earlier but it was also knowing that his tyres were going to be quite tired, getting towards the end of the race as well. The backmarkers didn’t work out for Romain, it’s a bit of a nightmare when you catch so many guys; they all want the DRS, they all want to fight and in the end, it was beneficial for me to pounce when Romain got not the best run with the backmarkers, which was no fault of his own.
Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Romain, what do you think you still miss to get a victory: another car, another team, another strategy? And the same for you, Sebastian, about Romain.
RG: From my side, I think, today, was a little bit of pace on the hard tyre. We covered Mark on the first stop. It was two laps shorter than what we thought and then again, the second stop was just a little bit earlier than we thought because of the tyres’ age and so on. And I think we missed Friday, so we had to do a long run in FP3 to know how the tyres were going because from Friday we had no information from our long runs, we really struggled with the car, so we lost that information that we are normally pretty good on. Today the hard tyres didn’t behave as we expected and before the race, honestly, we said we’ll start on option but then what’s going on in the second stint, we didn’t know if we had to fit option or prime and it was just an unknown. I think the Red Bull today was… we said in the strategy meeting that we never thought that we could beat them. So we are where we expected to be. Just sometimes, it’s a little bit of everything. Today was not the luck missing, it was not the start, the driving, it was just a little bit of pace from the car.
SV: Well, I think after the start and the first stint, I thought that it would be a great race for Romain. Obviously we tried to make our stint longer and so on, to come back in the end but they looked very strong. I think they struggled a little bit more on the prime probably but then again as he just said, they didn’t expect to race where they ended up racing. I think he drove a fantastic race today. I don’t think it’s a matter of… he can beat me, he beat me last year at the Race of Champions. I put the car in the wall. I think it’s not a matter of that. The race is long. Today obviously favoured us over the distance which is a little bit unusual compared to the Lotus because I knew that being in third, losing out in the first stint, usually the distance is more, you know, let’s say the strength of the Lotuses. I think Romain did a great job, great performance all weekend I think, great qualifying yesterday again, outqualified Kimi. We know that Kimi is a strong driver. Last year I think Romain made some mistakes but the most important thing is that we learn from these mistakes as drivers so I think he learned a lot of things and gradually he’s improving, so big respect for that.
Q: (Anne Giuntini – L’Equipe) Mark, last year you had an incident with Romain here. Did you change your mind about him during this year, especially in this race, but also the whole season?
MW: No, I think it’s very clear that Romain has a very different mental approach to the job at the moment this year. He’s driven some quite strong races, putting together the whole weekend which is a sign of a driver starting to get a bit more relaxed and confident. A lot less mistakes, not just in races but in practice so it’s not… You know, we’re not here to blow smoke up his arse but in the end he’s doing a very good job this year and it’s a big step for him because last year, in Formula One, also the first year against Fernando in Formula One wasn’t easy for him and to come back… yeah, he’s doing a good job. It starts and stops with him. Hope he doesn’t improve too much more before the end of the year! And we can keep going.
Q: (Kate Walker – GP Week) Sebastian, you haven’t won your fourth consecutive title yet but it’s almost certain to happen this season, barring something very odd. Now you’re also a man who collects an awful lot of race wins, record after record. What means more to you: going down in history with the likes of Fangio and Schumacher as one of three men to have collected four consecutive titles, or to stand on the top of every podium on the calendar?
SV: I think I prefer the second thing you said. You know, I love racing. When I was small, I was dreaming about Formula One and honestly never thought that one day I would be able to test one of these cars. First time I tested the car, it was… Mark drove in the morning, I drove in the afternoon. I shit myself the first couple of laps and I thought, alright, that’s for real men, not for me. Then I got used to it and obviously wanted to do more. A couple of years later, obviously I had the chance to get a drive, Red Bull gave me the chance at Toro Rosso to get some races. It’s incredible what’s happened over the last couple of years but nothing has changed in the way that I still love racing, I love the challenge, I’m still nervous when I wake up on Sunday, still excited when I walk on the grid and tense, looking forward to the race. Enjoying – not the numbers – but enjoying the fact that I’m racing and a great crowd today, a fantastic day. As I said, I think it would be a shame if you were too tense and if you tried to force things too much. I think you have to allow yourself to enjoy it because this is not normal, it doesn’t happen to everyone. I think I’m very fortunate that I’m one of these 22/24 guys in Formula One. As I said, we leave the hotel, great respect from the fans, they’re cheering, they’re shouting our names and it’s just great. That’s what I’m looking forward to most, obviously try to do it again. I love trophies so I don’t mind collecting a few either!
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, after overtaking Grosjean, did you ask the team what position Alonso was in in the race?
SV: No.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Did the team inform you?
SV: After the race. Obviously I knew that in the last stint, once we got past Romain, I knew that Mark was the biggest threat from behind. He was on fresher tyres and pretty quick. Obviously he got stuck with Romain a little bit which helped us. But I didn’t really… I didn’t ask and I didn’t want to know because there are still things that can happen at the end, even if you have a little bit of a gap and so on. We’ve seen today a lot of lock-ups; I was wide once in turn two, at the beginning of the race. Mark just said he knew where I was in one of the stints in the race because there was smoke here, smoke there. I was struggling a little bit with locking up the tyres. I was busy enough, also carrying the car to the chequered flag.
Ends
