INDIA in F1

Tag: Vettel

  • Flash: Vettel wins Japan GP

    Suzuka, 7 Oct 2012: “Unbelievable,” exclaimed reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel after a stunning lights-to-flag victory for Red Bull team but not before he made a few hearts to skip a beat with a fastest lap in the penultimate lap of the Formula One World Championship Grand Prix of Japan here on Sunday. The 25-year old who became the first driver to win back-to-back races this year after his Singapore win and is back as a strong contender to win his third straight World Championship.

    Vettel’s heroics and his fastest lap were greeted by a radio message to `calm’ down. The brilliant drive won the German 25 full points and with championship leader Fernando Alonso retiring with a rear puncture in the first lap with a `tiny-touch’ from Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen, the Red Bull star closed the championship gap to four points and suddenly the Drivers’ championship is wide open with only five races remaining. Alonso leads with 194 points with Vettel on 190 with his fourth win this year. Kimi Raikkonen who is yet to win a race is on third with 157 points and his chances of being a dark horse are slowly vanishing unless he comes up with a victory soon.

    Force India’s Paul Di Resta finished 12th behind Schumacher but Nico Hulkenberg was seventh not to allow Sauber to take too much of a lead with Kobayashi’s well-deserved third place behind Felipe Massa’s who got some consolation for Ferrari. Jenson Button of McLaren pushed home hero Kobayashi in the last few laps but had to be content with a fourth place followed by former world champions Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen in that order. Raikkonen is still in third place in the Driver’s championship with 157 points ahead of Hamilton on 152 points. Both have an outside chance to go after the title.

     The next race will be in Korea on October 14 before we move to the Indian GP at the Budh International Circuit on October 28.

    ends

    Sebastian Vettel in Japan. File photo by Red Bull Racing team from Saturday qualifier.

  • Vettel on final assault

    Suzuka, 6 Oct 2012: Reigning champion Sebastian Vettel took his fourth consecutive pole position at the Japanese Grand Prix and is all set to launch a final assault in the fly-away races to keep at a striking distance to table leader Fernando Alonso of Ferrari.  Alonso who won three races this year saw his lead reduce to 29 points after Vettel took his victory in Singapore to inch closer. Lewis Hamilton of McLaren who was in second place then had recorded a DNF to slide back.

    Sebastian Vettel took a dominant pole position at Suzuka and with Mark Webber  second he will be in a much better position to go for a kill. Red Bull recorded their first front-row lockout since last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix.  Alonso will be starting on P6 and with both McLarens much behind it would be a wonderful opportunity for the Red Bulls.

    After topping the timesheet in the final free practice session on Saturday morning, Vettel set about confirming his dominance in qualifying. He was content with a single run in Q1, and another in Q2. His first effort in Q3 set the benchmark of 1:30.839. It was not bettered and he duly collected his fourth consecutive pole at Suzuka.

    “I think we had a very, very smooth qualifying session, nearly perfect, we couldn’t really ask for more,” said the World Champion. “The car feels fantastic around here… and it came together nicely and now obviously we hope for a very good race tomorrow.”

    Alongside Vettel on the front row will be team-mate Mark Webber, the first time the two Red Bulls have locked out the positions this year.

    Sebastian Vettel takes fourth consecutive pole in Japan on Saturday 6 Oct 2012. Red Bull photo

    Jenson Button qualified third but will drop to eighth after taking a grid penalty for a gearbox change in his McLaren. Kamui Kobayashi qualified fourth for a resurgent Sauber, Romain Grosjean was fifth in his Lotus, the second Sauber of Sergio Pérez was sixth, Fernando Alonso a disappointed seventh for Ferarri, Kimi Räikkönen eighth in the second Lotus, Lewis Hamilton a surprising ninth for McLaren, later admitting he made the wrong choice on setup. Nico Hülkenberg qualified tenth, not setting a Q3 time. He also will receive a demotion after a gearbox change.

    Q1 saw many of the front runners stick with the slower, hard tyre but both Lotus and Sauber decided on safety first and did a run on the soft compound. It left Romain Grosjean in P1 at the end of the session. Of those eliminated, Bruno Senna was the midfielder in the unwelcome 18th position.  The Williams driver was heard to complain over the radio that he’d been blocked on a flying lap by Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne. The stewards concurred and penalized Vergne three places.

    “It was a frustrating qualifying session as I was held up on my final timed lap at the end of Q1 and couldn’t post the time that I wanted,” said Senna. “However, it’s a long race tomorrow and although this track is difficult to overtake at, we’ve been in this position before and so we’ll give it our best shot to score some points in the race.”

    Behind Senna, Heikki Kovalainen was 19th for Caterham, followed by Timo Glock’s Marussia, Pedro de la Rosa was 21st for HRT, followed by Pic in the second Marussia, Petrov’s Caterham and Narain Karthikeyan for HRT.

    Session two saw the soft tyre come out in earnest as the battle for the top-10 shoot-out intensified. Vettel quickly laid a marker of 1:31.501 with his first run and as those around him failed to make a significant impact on that time, the champion decided to stay in the garage. It was a similar story for Webber and Button, neither of whom took a second run in Q2.

    The big casualty of Q2 was Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, who had been third quickest in FP3. The Brazilian missed out on Q3 by just two-hundredths of a second. Behind him was Paul di Resta for Force India twelfth and Michael Schumacher 13th. Schumacher will drop down the order, having a ten-place grid penalty from Singapore. Pastor Maldonado was 14th, Nico Rosberg 15th and the Toro Rossos of Daniel Ricciardo and Vergne 16th and 17th respectively.

    Q3 looked like being a straight fight between the Red Bulls. Vettel’s lap gave him the early advantage but Webber was denied a chance to respond when Kimi Räikkönen spun at Spoon in the dying seconds of the session. Obeying the yellow flags, Webber lifted, and Vettel was able to abandon his own lap.

    “I had to back-off for the lights and the flags,” said the Australian. “There was no car when I got there, so it was very, very close. Obviously [Button] was behind me and I saw he was still committed to his lap with the DRS etc., so obviously the lights were just cleared for him.”

    ends

  • Vettel happy with the car, hopes for a good race

    Suzuka, 6 Oct 2012: Once again Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing proved his worth taking the pole at the Japan GP.

    The top three drivers attended the FIA Press Conference after qualification included: 1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing), 2 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing) and 3 – Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)

    TV UNILATERAL

    Sebastian, your fourth consecutive pole here, you must love this place.

    Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it’s not bad. I’m very, very happy with today’s result, I think we had a very, very smooth qualifying session, nearly perfect, so we couldn’t really ask for more. The car felt fantastic from the start. We didn’t really have the best start to the weekend; yesterday morning I wasn’t very happy but then we seemed to get it better every time we go out, so very pleased with the result, very happy, the car feels fantastic around here and I was able to pick up a little bit overnight and it came together nicely and now obviously we hope for a very good race tomorrow.

    It’s the 50th anniversary for Suzuka and it’s a circuit that everyone seems to adore driving around. What’s the best part of the circuit?

    SV: I think you have to say the first sector, up the Esses, obviously we don’t have that kind of combination in Formula One elsewhere. I think it’s unique. I think this place in general is quite special with all the fans around the track. When I was walking into the garage you can obviously see Turn One, Two, Three and the grandstands mostly and you see a lot of people. It’s just, for us, nice to see the excitement people have for Formula One and the support we get. I think they are very crazy – in a positive way – so it’s nice coming here and wonderful to drive the circuit. The rest of the track is very enjoyable: The Degners and then Spoon is very special: you always lose the car a little bit, just when you come off. The lap I had in qualifying in the end was just right in those places, so I was very happy.

    Mark, great result for the team, Red Bull Racing, you seem to have made real progress.

    Mark WEBBER: Yeah, it’s been a good weekend for us so far. Seb and I had a clean run in Q3 when it mattered at the start there. And two pretty big laps from both of us. Obviously Seb got me a bit, so that was a good lap from him. But to be this much further up for us, obviously we’ve had a rough run with qualifying of late, particularly my side with penalties and bits and bobs. It just makes the race much more difficult: you have to start doing wacky strategies and stuff like that. So, I am happy to be on the front row and looking forward to a good result tomorrow. Like you say, for the team it’s just a great tonic for them, at this point in the championship to have the cars towards the front again.

    Jenson, third in qualifying but obviously with a five-place grid penalty.

    Jenson BUTTON: That hurts a little bit. Today was good. This morning in practice I wasn’t that happy but we made some good improvements for qualifying. For me both laps I did in Q3 were good. I was happy with the laps, really enjoyed driving around here, it’s always great with low fuel and new tyres – new soft tyres. It was a lot of fun but we’re just not quick enough. I wouldn’t know what to put my finger on, where that four-tenths is. A good qualifying for us, just a pity we’re starting back in eighth. This place is such a nice place to fight for a win; it’s going to be very difficult for me tomorrow but never say never. There’s always possibilities and I think we’ll have a good race car also.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    So Sebastian, I guess one of the main factors tomorrow is going to be all about tyres, have you got enough sets left? New tyres, new softs?

    SV: Yeah, obviously we didn’t finish the run in Q3, so saved a little bit there, saved a lap, didn’t push to the end. Before that we had a very smooth session in qualifying in general. We saved as many tyres as we can and I think we have a pretty good car, the balance felt very good in qualifying so I was very happy with the laps I had every time and yeah, all in all I think we should have a good race car as well tomorrow. I think we were able to improve the car from yesterday to today which also helps us on the long run and with tyre consumption. But you never know until you find out. I think we’ve seen a lot of races this year where probably we expected something, and people expected something, other teams had expectations but the last ten laps everything turned around. We have to stay focussed and see what we get from start to finish.

    I guess you were OK in traffic, because particularly in Q1 a lot of people were complaining.

    SV: I was very lucky, I saw a couple of incidents on the screen but I think we found a good gap, and I needed only one lap, which obviously helps. So that was good – it doesn’t always go that way. So, it was helping to save tyres, I’m not sure if we’re going to use that one again – but still it’s good to get through without any trouble.

    Mark, on that last lap, did you have yellow flags at Spoon?

    MW: Yeah, I had to back-off for the lights and the flags. There was no car there when I got there, so it was very, very close. Obviously JB was behind me and I saw he was still committed to his lap with the DRS etc., so obviously the lights were just cleared for him. Would have been nice to have a look at the last chicane, would have liked to have got that a little bit better. I was down a sniff into Spoon but… the hairpin was tricky for us today, trying to get the hairpin a little bit better would have been nice but in general the first sector was very strong, and for both of us to have a strong car here, when it really mattered, to put ourselves right towards the front of the grid, on the front row, is something we’re really, really happy with. We can really race from there and have a good grand prix tomorrow.

    Jenson, is it a bit worrying, the progress they’ve made?

    JB: I think we expected them to be quick. Their race pace especially has been quick over the last few races. Qualifying hasn’t gone their way and Seb looked really quick in Singapore but it wasn’t there, it didn’t seem, at the end. But their pace is very good here. The balance for me felt great, I felt really happy with the car but I just… that was it. Y’know, I felt I got everything out of it on both laps but still quite a long way off these two but a long way in front of everyone else. So, third place would have been nice to start the race because I think with this race you really don’t know what’s going to happen with tyre strategies and degradation and what-have-you. A lot of people are struggling with blistering. But I’m starting down in eighth; it’s not the easiest place to start from. But I still think we can really race well from there. There’s an unusual group of cars in front. So hopefully we can not just get good points – you never know, maybe we can still challenge these two.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q:  (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Question to Seb and Mark: do you have any explanation why you succeed so well in Suzuka?

    MW: In years gone by, I think we’ve had cars that have really enjoyed this type of venue, whether RB5 a little bit, RB6 especially was very strong. We had a very tough Grand Prix with Fernando that year – Seb and I, the three of us, a good race in 2010. JB was quick last year, there was a tight field last year but in general Silverstone, Suzuka, these type of circuits, you just have to look at Adrian’s (Newey’s) record on some of these tracks. You go back to the Williamses with Mansell, Hakkinen, McLarens blah blah blah. He’s always been strong on these type of tracks, so that’s good for us but it’s always challenging, and we’ve had to work like hell to get the car in the window where we would like it and now, this weekend, it seems pretty good so we would be very very disappointed if we weren’t competitive here because, as you say, it should be a track where we can charge for very good results. I think, basically, to answer your question it’s in the DNA of our car, it’s in the DNA of the philosophy of our car. That’s it.

    SV: As Mark said, we worked very hard to get it to where it is now. I think we were struggling this year at the beginning of the year in places, in corners where usually, traditionally, we were competitive, so we didn’t really know what to expect here this weekend but sector one seemed very competitive for both of us all weekend so I think that’s an indication whether the car is happy around here or not. I’m happy we are back to our shape that we had over the last couple of years around here.

    Q: (Dan Knutson – Honorary) Michael Schumacher has announced his retirement; could I have your thoughts please?

    SV: I think it’s a loss for Formula One. It’s a shame, obviously, I think it was good fun to have him around, race against him and joke with him, so I think I will miss that but obviously you can understand his decision and, as I said, we will miss him, but obviously wish him all the best for his future, and hope we still have him around somehow in some function.

    MW: I think it’s pretty obvious that there were two different careers: one phenomenal one and then in the next one the car, everything together didn’t get close to what he did in the past, and that’s how sensitive Formula One can be. He knows that, he took a new challenge on – which you have to take your hat off to – because he didn’t want to be back at home just doing the groceries, and he was also very hungry to challenge himself again. We saw some flash points of what he’s capable of, but he also knows himself, he’s seen some flash points which is the right time for him to stop, so move on.

    JB: Yes, wonderfully put by both parties. I think the last three years, we’ve all been wondering and watching to see what happened to his second career and it wasn’t like the first one, but I think it just shows and proves how amazing the first one was because he hasn’t done badly. It is a loss for the sport, having a seven time World Champion and someone that’s achieved more than anyone else and will for a very long time leaving the sport. He feels that it’s the right time to leave, and good luck to him.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, now there are only two people in front of you for the number of pole positions: Michael and Ayrton Senna. Do you think you can catch them?

    SV: As Jenson just said, I think Michael has a lot of the records that will probably stay there forever. You don’t really jump into the car thinking about those sort of things. Obviously, when you end up here and end up with people telling you some things it’s nice for all of us but it’s not the number one motivation that makes you jump into the car. I enjoy what I do a lot and on tracks like this, as Jenson said, on soft tyres, low fuel, you really feel what the cars can achieve and I think our job becomes very very special and unique in the world. That’s what I enjoy most. Obviously if you’re successful then it feeds on itself. I think they are quite a long way ahead as well, so we will see. We have to work, obviously, focus step by step, and not think about those kind of things.

    File picture of Sebastian Vettel courtesy Red Bull F1 pool content.

    Ends

  • Vettel on top in Singapore

    Singapore, 23 Sept 2012: The Red Bull Racing driver led over the line from Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso. As a result Vettel rises from fourth in the Drivers’ Championship standings to second place. Kimi Räikkönen remains third after finishing the Singapore Grand Prix in sixth position.

    “It’s one of the toughest races of the year to be honest,” Vettel said afterwards. “It’s very long; the full two hours. There’s no space for mis

    Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull wins in Singapore. Red Bull photo

    takes and the race just seems to go on forever. I had a good start, which got us into second and in the hunt and the pace was there. Obviously we benefited from Lewis’ failure. After that I think we generally we had very, very strong pace. I’m just incredibly happy and proud because this is a such a tough race.”

    Vettel rose from third to second at the start, getting past the Williams of Pastor Maldonado. He and leader Hamilton pulled away from the field and looked evenly matched on pace. With no change through the first round of pitstops, they developed a good lead on third-placed Jenson Button but Hamilton was forced to pull over on lap 22 with a suspected gearbox failure.

    “It’s heartbreaking not to have finished the race,” said Hamilton afterwards. “We definitely had the pace to win this weekend. In fact, before I retired, I was cruising; just managing the gap back to Seb. Then I started to experience difficulty with the gearshift, then I lost third gear, and then the gearbox kept dropping into neutral.”

    Despite the setback, Hamilton vowed to continue his battle for the Drivers’ Championship. “The good thing we can take away from this weekend is that we have extremely good pace,” he said. “As a result, I think we can really attack in the next few races. It’s going to be hard to close the gap to guys like Fernando and Sebastian, especially when they keep finishing race after race, but I’ll never give up. There are six more races, and I need to go and win all six. I’ll fight until the end.”

    Vettel’s comfortable lead vanished when Narain Karthikeyan crashed out under the Bay Grandstand on lap 31, and the safety car was deployed. It left the track at the end of lap 37 but was out again only two laps later when Michael Schumacher ploughed into the back of Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso. Schumacher was later handed a 10-place grid penalty for his next race.

    But it was the final drama for Vettel. Once the pace car peeled off track last year’s Singapore winner settled into a solid rhythm and slowly built up a comfortable six-second lead over Button. He duly took the chequered flag for his second win of the year.

    Alonso retained his lead in the Drivers’ Championship and despite that lead being cut from 37 to 29 points, professed himself pleased with the result from an event where Ferrari did not appear strong. “I think it’s a very positive weekend; a very good weekend,” he said. “Of the four or five contenders, we lost points to one, but against the other three we increased our advantage, so obviously, as I said, when we are not quick enough to win more points against three of our opponents, I think it’s positive.”

    Behind the leaders, Paul di Resta took a career-best fourth for Force India, Nico Rosberg was fifth for Mercedes, ahead of the Lotus team of Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean. Felipe Massa recovered to eighth after a disastrous first lap saw him pitting and emerging last. Daniel Ricciardo was ninth for Toro Rosso, making up for the last-lap mechanical failure in Italy which denied him a point, and tenth was Sergio Pérez, who gained the place several hours after the race when Mark Webber was demoted for an illegal overtaking move on Pérez’s team-mate Kamui Kobayashi.

  • We benefited from Lewis’ failure: Vettel

    Singapore, 23 Sept 2012:

    Following drivers who won the first three places in the Singapore GP attended the fourth and final press conference of FIA at the Marina Bay circuit on sunday.

    1 – Sebastian Vettel

    Vettel's file photo of Saturday in Singapore 2012. Red Bull photo

    (Red Bull Racing); 2 – Jenson Button (McLaren); 3 – Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)

    PODIUM INTERVIEWS

    (Conducted by Eddie Jordan)

    Sebastian you’re a back-to-back winner here. What’s the secret?

    Sebastian VETTEL: I think it’s one of the toughest races of the year to be honest. It’s very long; the full two hours. The circuit is a killer. There’s so many bumps, there’s no space for mistakes and the race just seems to go on forever. Obviously we benefited from Lewis’ failure. A couple of laps before that he lost some oil and then after that I think we generally we had very, very strong pace all weekend. I had a good start, which got us into second and in the hunt. The pace was there so… I’m just incredibly happy and proud because this is a such a tough race. I would like to dedicate it to one very, very special man, Professor Sid Watkins who passed away and we remember him for sure. I think he is one of the biggest reasons we can go out on a circuit like this and enjoy ourselves and be reasonably safe. He pushed the boundaries in terms of safety for all of us, so a big thank you to him.

    Can you see something reminiscent of 2010; how you came from this position and just sneaked that win of the championship in 2010?

    SV: I don’t think Fernando would be too happy if it happened again in the last race. But it’s an incredible season for all of us (inaudible) we have a lot of races left, the car seems to be competitive and we just have to use the momentum and keep pushing for these last races and see what happens.

    Jenson, what happened at the re-start?

    Jenson BUTTON: First of all, good evening everyone. Was that fun? Good. It was a pretty tough two hours for us. The re-start? Sebastian accelerated and braked for the right-hander and I just didn’t expect that, such a speed difference. So I hit the brakes, locked up and just missed the rear of his car, because that would have been quite embarrassing. But we got through it and yeah it’s a good second place. I’m reasonably happy with that. We all want to win, but you can’t win them all.

    Does that second place make up in some small way for Monza?

    JB: Yeah it does, but for us as a team to have another failure this weekend is disappointing. The important thing for us is we have a very good car. I think the team are doing a fantastic job and it seems that every race we go to we really do have a chance of winning so that’s important to us.

    Fernando, you also have won twice here and now on the podium again. It must be one of your favourite tracks?

    Fernando ALONSO: Yeah, good evening everybody. Of course, is one of the best tracks to drive, to enjoy. The weekend in general is out of our normal routine, let’s say, of times etcetera. We enjoy driving here, the atmosphere is fantastic, the layout is quite interesting and it was a fun race again.

    You still have a 29 point lead in the Championship but yet you haven’t won since Germany. Are all of your opponents, are they all falling away or tripping over themselves?

    FA: Well, in Monza is was Lewis winning the race and Sebastian retired. Here it’s Sebastian winning, Lewis retiring, so for me it’s OK is they keep doing it like this.

    PRESS CONFERENCE

    Sebastian, really should we have expected that result after practice – but perhaps not after qualifying?

    SV: Yeah, it just underlines that we obviously struggled a bit yesterday, especially in the last section of qualifying. Up to then I think it was fine and the pace was there. The confirmation was straight away there in the grand prix when we found ourselves behind Lewis and were able to push him quite hard. I think he was obviously trying to save his tyres, we were trying to save the tyres. It’s a bit of a different race, it’s very tactical but I think the pace was there in the race throughout. Also, towards the end versus Jenson I think we could have an answer every time he was going quick and it was a good finish of the Grand Prix. Obviously it’s a long race, a lot of laps – we did the full two hours again – but it’s fun in a way, you are excited, a bit nervous before the race starts, knowing there is a little bit of a marathon coming, but I think that’s what makes this race so special: not just racing at night, it’s also the circuit with a lot of corners, a lot of bumps, making it extremely difficult. It’s a great challenge for us. Very happy with the result, obviously. I think the team deserves a big thank you. In fact working in these conditions is very, very hot and in the garage it is another 10, 15 degrees hotter than outside. So not the nicest office to work it but obviously it’s nice to give a little bit of champagne back and bring a trophy home – so I’m very happy.

    And good for the Championship chances as well…

    SV: Yeah, it looks better than before. Fernando finished third. I am not a genius but I think it’s looking ten points better than it was before. There’s a lot of races left and it’s a bit difficult to predict what’s going to happen. We have to make sure that we finish the races first of all. I think the pace is there, even if we are not quick enough to win then it is good enough to collect a lot of points. And we have to make sure we do that. It’s a tough championship so far but we’re still in it. We’re still looking forward to the next couple of races, and obviously the target at the moment is to beat Fernando.

    Jenson, the pace seemed to be there at the start but not necessarily at the end.

    JB: Yeah, the pace on the supersoft was good. I could look after the tyres pretty well – not that it did me any good anyway because after the pitstops they had a gap because they went to new tyres earlier than me, so it didn’t really work out. And on the harder of the two tyres, the balance wasn’t as good and I couldn’t really look after the tyres and degradation was reasonably high so, yeah, not too bad. Would have been nicer to have pushed Sebastian a bit harder: you never know around a street circuit when you push someone hard, so there was always the possibility that we could do one step better but it wasn’t to be; Sebastian didn’t make any mistakes and we came away with a second. Reasonably good points and it’s nice to get some good points back on the board after the DNF in Monza.

    After Lewis’ retirement was there any concern in terms of reliability, or did they not tell you that?

    JB: No, they didn’t say anything. I obviously knew that it was a… I still don’t know… but I’m guessing it was a gearbox problem.  For about three or four laps it was spraying gearbox oil. I thought it was the backmarker at the time, and then I saw Lewis pull over so I knew that was from his car. It’s disappointing for the team to have another DNF – two weekends on the trot. It’s something that we need to sort out because as a team over the race weekends we’re doing a great job and the pace is there with the car. Over the last few races the results we’ve had have been very good but it’s just we can’t seem to do that with both cars. It’s something for sure we need to work on for the rest of the season.

    Fernando, for you was this pretty much the best you could hope for?

    FA: Yes, definitely. I think we were not very competitive this weekend so we struggled a little with the pace of the car and yesterday we managed to put a good lap in Q3 and that was a little bit the best part of the weekend. Because if you start at the rear I think you are having problems all the race, so starting in fifth, it was OK. Then the start was so-so. We lost position with di Resta and then we recovered in first and second corner, and then we fight a little bit with Maldonado so I think the safety car arrive in the worst moment for us because we have stopped and changed the tyres five laps before the safety car, so we didn’t have the pitstop for free like the others did. So, it was, I think with all these difficulties, if we put altogether, arriving third in our difficult weekend is for sure a fantastic result in terms of points.

    And in terms of your rivals obviously with Lewis not finishing…

    FA: Yes, again I think it’s a very positive weekend. A very good weekend. Of the four or five contenders, we lost points with one, with the other three we increased our advantage, so obviously, as I said, when we are not quick enough to win more points against three of our opponents, I think it’s positive.

    QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

    Q: (Ubaid Parker – F1 Pulse) Sebastian, when you were chasing Hamilton, you were losing three to four tenths on several laps in sector two alone, although you were recovering it a little bit in sector one and sector three. Was there any particular reason for that, because you did mention that turn ten was a difficulty yesterday?

    SV: No, not really. I saw that I was gaining a little bit in the first sector, not sure in the second sector but I could see that I probably lost a bit but I think Lewis has been very quick in sector two all weekend. Also, I think I was fairly close to him, so obviously the closer you get, it’s a bit of a disadvantage but I try to keep the gap fairly much the same, lap by lap. I didn’t really mean to close the gap, because I know that the closer I get, the more grip I lose, and obviously I will lose tyres just by running close to him and losing downforce so I think it was a tactical race in the beginning, especially the beginning of the second stint after the first pit stop. If you go all out in one lap you probably go a second faster but then you do this exercise for three laps and Jenson is coming. It’s the races that we have these days but I think, as I said, Lewis was already quick in sector two so it was probably not a surprise to lose a little bit against him.

    Q: (Ian de Cotta – Today) Sebastian, you say this is a tough circuit. What does it feel like to win twice in a row?

    SV: Very good. I’m very happy. I think this is one of the best races to win in terms of atmosphere. Everything is a little bit special here. It’s a surprise in a way, because we haven’t been racing here for fifty years – Formula One hasn’t been racing here for fifty years but it still feels like a real classic already. It’s nice. I think everyone likes coming here. It’s a bit funny to be in the European time zone and a little bit against everything else in this city. It’s great to get the opportunity. It’s a great city, more than five million people living here and the circuit is right in the middle. When you do the drivers’ parade and you see a lot of people around the track it’s nice just to be part of it, obviously even greater to win, which was great last year, but is even greater this year to repeat it. I’m very happy, especially with this year’s championship. It’s very tight. We probably didn’t have the fastest package this weekend but we still won the race. I’m very happy.

    Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Fernando, in the second stint you were consistently catching up to the leaders; what was different in that stint compared to qualifying and the other parts of the race?

    FA: I don’t know. I think we were pushing a little bit harder and we were in free air. In the first stint we were fighting a little bit with Pastor and then we were probably a little bit more competitive with the soft tyre compared to the super soft, so maybe that was the reason.

    Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) To all three of you: what are your expectations for Suzuka and your specific car, each of you?

    SV: I think we have to improve. I think there is still a little bit that we need to gain. I think that at the moment McLaren is the fastest car and the Ferrari is a little bit of an allrounder. It’s always quick and always there so we need to make sure that we see the chequered flag.  Reliability will be important but it’s a fun track so I’m looking forward to it. The Sauber will be quick, unlike this weekend and we will go from there.

    JB: It’s always very difficult to know because it’s such a different circuit to this one but if you compare it to Spa, and it’s reasonably similar to Spa – but without the run-off areas – it’s a circuit that should suit us pretty well. I still think that the Red Bulls will be strong as they were in Spa. Qualifying was great for us and the race was as well, but in the race our pace was no better than the Red Bulls. It’s going to be a competitive race, I think. We really don’t know where the Ferrari will stand on that type of circuit. It’s going to be a competitive race, and one I’m very much looking forward to.

    FA: Yeah, a little bit difficult to predict. I think all this year we’ve been up and down for all the teams and it’s the same for us. For sure, we need to improve the performance we saw here. We struggled all weekend. Positions five and 13 for our cars is not what we were hoping for so we need to be in a better position in Suzuka. Maybe Silverstone is also quite similar to Suzuka and we were quite OK there so hopefully we can repeat that kind of performance.

    Q: (Carlos Miguel – La Gaceta) Fernando, maybe your first stop was a little bit early; one or two laps more, for the traffic, I think – or no?

    FA: I don’t know. We more or less stopped when we felt that the tyres were dropping off too much and we didn’t want to lose too much time. So we stopped. We found some traffic there and we struggled to overtake. After that, we had good pace so maybe… I don’t know. It’s difficult to… or it’s easy to see after the race. I was happy with the pit stop call.

    Ends

  • Facile Monza win for Hamilton

    Monza, 9 Sept 2012: Lewis Hamilton cruised to a comfortable Italian Grand Prix victory at Monza on Sunday without any hiccups as he raced from lights to flag at the front and is quietly crawling up to catch the leader Fernando Alonso, who finished third behind Sergio Perez of Sauber, who staged another spectacular raid on the podium positions.  Fernando Alonso maintained his title charge and is still in the championship lead with 179 points. Hamilton is second in the drivers’ championship with 142 points, a point ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, who is a point ahead of reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel on 140.

    Pole winner Hamilton dominated from the start, holding off a strong first-corner challenge from the fast-starting Felipe Massa to maintain his lead. That was about as close to discomfort as the McLaren driver came over the next 53 laps. While behind him Massa and Jenson Button tussled for second, Hamilton simply stretched his legs and over the bulk of his two stints and effortlessly carved out a 13-second lead that remained largely unchallenged until the chequered flag.

    “It was pretty trouble-free,” Hamilton said afterwards of his third win of the season. “I don’t think I had any problems throughout the race and the guys did a great job through the pitstop. Also, I got a good start for once, so very, very happy with that.”

    However, Hamilton lamented the fact that team-mate Jenson Button failed to join him on the podium. The winner of last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix was forced to retire after 32 laps, his car suffering a fuel system problem while in second place.

    “It’s very unfortunate for Jenson,” Hamilton said. “We were running 1-2 at the time and it would have been fantastic for the team to have won here and have first and second. I don’t really know what went on with his car but it was very unfortunate.”

    While Hamilton’s strolled to his 20th career win, the real race developed behind him, with Fernando Alonso carving his way through he field in a bit to make up for a qualifying session in which mechanical problems left him tenth on the grid. On his first lap of the race he climbed to seventh and by two-thirds distance the championship leader had hustled his way up to third.

    Part of that progress involved a nail-biting battle with Sebastian Vettel. However, the Red Bull Racing driver defended too hard under pressure from the Ferrari driver and the stewards handed Vettel a drive through penalty for “forcing another driver off the track”.

    Vettel’s penalty freed Alonso to make his move on the podium positions and after being ushered through to second by team-mate Massa, it looked almost certain that he would take 18 points and further bolster his championship lead.

    Sergio Perez, however, had other ideas. The Sauber driver had a difficult qualifying, starting 13th and as such his team opted to start the Mexican on the hard Pirelli tyre, taking their now traditional gamble on their driver’s ability to keep tyres alive and maintain good lap times over a long stint.

    Perez didn’t disappoint. He kept his first set of tyres going until lap 30 of 53 and then moved onto the medium compound. He rejoined in seventh and running as much as three seconds faster than the drivers around him on older hard tyres, he began carving his way through the pack.

    Eventually he came up behind third-placed Massa. It was no contest. Perez brushed the Brazilian aside and then a few laps later pulled the same move on Alonso, scything past the Ferrari to claim another spectacular, if unlikely podium.

    He set off in pursuit of Hamilton, with the McLaren crew warning their driver that the Sauber man was setting lightning-quick times. Perez closed to within 4.5 seconds of the McLaren driver but the Briton always had something in reserve and crossed the line in comfort to record his 20th career win and his first Italian GP win.

    Perez, though, was delighted with his efforts, especially as he admitted that keeping the hard tyres alive in his first stint had been difficult.

    “It was really enjoyable. One of those races where you have the pace and you are the one attacking,” he said. “[However,] during my first stint, to go that long and to be able to keep the pace was not easy at all. I did quite a lot of laps on those tyres. Then in the second stint we managed to go maximum attack and I was able to have good fighting with some drivers. It was just a great race.”

    Alonso, meanwhile, branded his race “absolutely perfect” despite losing second place to Perez in the closing stages.

    “An absolutely perfect Sunday for us,” he said. “Obviously the win was out of reach after the problem yesterday, starting tenth is not easy to think about victory, so if you cannot win, podium is next target. In all the simulations and all the predictions we had, it was never a podium finish, so basically it’s much better than expected. Jenson was out of the race and the two Red Bulls… so perfect Sunday maybe.”

    It was a far from perfect afternoon for Red Bull. After taking his drive-through penalty, Vettel rejoined behind team-mate Mark Webber. The pair soon swapped places and looked on course for a pride-salvaging finish of sixth and seventh place.

    It wasn’t to be. Six laps from the flag Vettel pulled with an alternator problem similar to the one that had caused him stop late in Saturday morning’s final free practice session and four laps later Webber too exited the race. The Australian spun out while pushing on heavily worn tyres and limped back to the garage to retire.

    With seven race left Alonso now has 179 points, 37 points clear of Hamilton, who is now second in 142 points. Kimi Raikkonen, fifth today, has stealthily moved up to third with 141 points. Vettle ins now fourth with 140 points and Webber is fifth with 132.

    Red Bull Racing keep hold of top slot in the Constructors’ Championship however, though with an obviously smaller margin. McLaren move to within 29 points of the Milton Keynes team’s total of 272 points. Ferrari are third with 226 points and Lotus are fourth with 217 points.

    ends

    Hamilton celebrates after winning at Monza on Sunday 9 Sept 2012. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Photo

  • Red Bulls to start P5 and P11

    Monza, 8 Sept 2012: Constructors’ Championship leaders Red Bull Racing had to settle for sixth and 11th in qualifying.

    Sebastian Vettel, who qualified sixth, will start from fifth as a result of the gearbox change penalty awarded to Paul di Resta. Vettel finished Q2 just over a tenth ahead of his team-mate – but it was enough to see the World Champion through to Q3, while Mark Webber was eliminated.

    “It’s pretty much what we expected today,” said Webber. “Seb and I were on the bubble there; it was very close between us – there’s only a tenth here and there and I’m out. No massive surprises. I’m 11th, so we can have a bit of a choice on what we can do tonight, but I’d rather be further up the grid. We’ve got a bit of a slog tomorrow; but it’s Monza so never say never.”

    Vettel professed himself happy to finish the session in sixth place – this despite having finished on the podium six days ago at Spa. “I’m pretty happy with the result; my last lap should have been a bit quicker, but whether it would have made a difference or not is hard to say. If you look from us to the front, the gaps are too big. All weekend we were not quick enough, so P6 is a very good place to be. Let’s see what we can do in the race, I think the pace tomorrow should be better.”
    Vettel missed out on the opportunity to complete a qualifying simulation run on the option tyres during Saturday morning’s FP3. With a few minutes of the session remaining he pulled off the track at the Ascari chicane with what was later defined as an alternator failure. Renault have sent the unit for analysis but stress this is a upgraded version of the device and not susceptible to the failure which afflicted Vettel and Lotus’s Romain Grosjean at the European Grand Prix.

    ends

    Vettel on Saturday qualifies at P5 for Red Bull. Red Bull F1 team photo

  • Casio launches Edifice watch with Red Bull Racing

    Monza, 6 September 2012: Ahead of the Italian Grand Prix weekend, Casio hosted a quiz-based launch for the EQS-A500RB, the latest Limited Edition EDIFICE watch built in partnership with Red Bull Racing.
    Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing’s double F1™ World Champion, Team Principal Christian Horner, and former Formula One drivers Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert all participated in the ‘Speed and Intelligence’ quiz, designed to test the contestants’ knowledge of their sport. Hosted by comedian Tom Goodliffe, the quiz consisted of a multitude of challenges from an audio test to a cards round. All rounds were against the clock – with an oversized Casio EDIFICE EQS-A500RB used as the official time keeping device.
    The EQS-A500RB, which will be available to buy later this year, boasts a variety of features including Smart Access Technology, solar power and 10 bar water resistance.
    To convey Red Bull Racing’s image, the team’s trademark red and blue colouring has been incorporated into the dials, bezel and hands of the watch, whilst the Red Bull Racing logo is prominently displayed on the watch face.
    Casio has been a proud partner of Red Bull Racing since 2009 and will continue to be its watch sponsor for the rest of this season and next. Red Bull Racing has a youthful, energetic image, but also pursues an intelligent strategy that strives to leverage outstanding technological developments to make its race cars the fastest in the world. This goes hand in hand with EDIFICE’s brand concept of speed and intelligence, hence the theme of the quiz.
    Speaking at the launch, Toshiharu Okimuro, Casio Deputy Senior General Manager said: “Building upon the excellent working relationship that Casio EDIFICE and Red Bull Racing share, the EDIFICE EQS-A500RB emphasizes the traits that the two brands have in common: Speed and Intelligence together with accuracy – all without sacrificing style.”
    Sebastian Vettel commented: “The watch shares the same attributes that Red Bull Racing need for success – precision, speed and of course the highest level of technology in our racing cars. It’s also a great weight and not too heavy on my wrist!”
    Christian Horner added: “The watch strikes a nice balance between design and function – the Red Bull Racing visual identity is incorporated into the watch face, whilst its speed and precision embodies the team’s ethos.”
    ends

    Vettel at the launch of Casio Edifice watch in partnership with Red Bull Racing. Casio EdificeF1 photo

  • Vettel stars in a Music Video with Fiona

    Hong Kong, 30 August 2012:  Double Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel has taken on a driving job with a difference – starring in a music video with Double Grammy-winning US R&B star and protégé of Jay-Z, Melanie Fiona.
    According to an Infiniti Press Release, The Red Bull Racing driver and Infiniti Global Ambassador plays a central part in the official global music video for Fiona’s track ‘Watch Me Work’, from her album‘The MF Life’ on Universal Records. The high-energy piece, set in downtown New York, sees Vettel play a modern day James Dean character searching to find an underground location for Fiona and her band to perform. Vettel emerges driving a red Infiniti G37 convertible to an enormous warehouse space, powering up the lights and the sound system, and taking control of the volume. Happy with his work, Vettel’s character departs the scene and is seen driving into the Manhattan sunrise.
    The video is the latest in the ‘Infiniti Inspired Performers’ series, which sees Red Bull Racing drivers Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber collaborating with other top performers in different disciplines. It was shot on location in New Jersey in June when Vettel drove the proposed New Jersey F1 Circuit. The 25 year-old German driver also took the opportunity to take the R&B star on a high-speed lap of the circuit, where she got a taste of his high performance world.
    It’s the first time that Canadian-born Melanie Fiona has featured a sports star in one of her videos. She is no stranger to collaborations though, having worked with Jay-Z, co-written songs with Rihanna and toured with Kanye West amongst others. She is also no stranger to Inspired Performance – her family have owned Infiniti cars for years meaning Melanie has grown up with the brand.
    Commenting on the video, Sebastian Vettel said: “It was a great experience to shoot a music video, and certainly very different to what I’m used to. But music is without question an inspiration to many and I’m very proud to have been part of this. I think the lyrics are quite fitting to what we can all do if we put our mind to it”
    Melanie Fiona added: “It’s not often you get the chance to be driven by an F1 World Champion and when the opportunity came up to have Seb driving me in the video I was like, yes please! This is one of my favourite songs and one that I’ve been wanting to put out for a while so to have him involved was great.”
    The music video is available to view here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vh0yUHGfEA
    A behind the scenes video featurette can be found here:
    Vettel stars in a music video. Photo by Infiniti

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlIOlI2JSb8

    ends

  • Red Bull pace not guaranteed: Vettel

    Silverstone (UK)

    Sebastian Vettel after Thursday practice in Silverstone. FIA photo

    , 5 July 2012: Sebastian Vettel has said that there is no guarantee that the superior pace Red Bull Racing showed at the European Grand Prix in Valencia will translate to Silverstone.

    In Valencia a fortnight ago, Vettel landed pole position with a lap almost half a second quicker than anyone else, and in the race was quick enough to open a 10-second gap over the chasing pack in the first stint of the grand prix.

    Vettel’s dominance ended with an alternator failure after 33 laps, but the fear for Red Bull Racing’s rivals is that the team will be even quicker at high-speed Silverstone, especially in light of the fact that it is expected to bring more updates this weekend. Vettel, though, warned against such an expectation.

    “I would be very careful with that [thinking],” he said today. “We had a good race in Valencia and we seemed to be able to make a difference straight away. This is a new track, a different track and has different characteristics. We will have to confirm the feeling we had in Valencia, the pace. Also rain is on the way. It should be a challenging weekend for everybody.

    “I think we did a step forward [in Valencia], we were very competitive,” he admitted. “Everything just seemed to work. We felt comfortable form the first session onwards, up to the point where we had the failure and had to stop. That can make a big difference to the whole weekend if you find an extra tenth or two. If you take those tenths away then it might look completely different again. We had a very strong weekend but we need to confirm it here.”

    Vettel said, however, that he is looking forward to the British Grand Prix and said it is a circuit he enjoys.

    “I won in 2009 and it was very emotional,” he said. “So hopefully we can get back to that level. The crowd here is extremely fair. Obviously they’re cheering for the British drivers, which everyone can understand, but they are very fair and they respect and appreciate if someone else has a good race. So, all in all, I’m looking forward to the weekend despite the weather forecast.”