Sebastian Vettel Q&A: People have won from this far back before 17 Oct 2009
While Brawn GP’s Jenson Button and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel were washed away during Saturday’s qualifying, their respective team mates Rubens Barichello and Mark Webber showed what they - and their cars - were made of, clinching the first row of the grid. For Vettel with his 16-point deficit to standings’ leader Button, it was disappointing to say the least…
Q: Sebastian, how are you?
Sebastian Vettel: Angry.
Q: Can you explain what happened? Was it the wrong set-up or poor timing that hindered you in Q1?
SV: It’s very simple, when the track was at its best there was too much traffic, and when the traffic improved, there was too much water again on the track. I came here today to qualify much higher. But that’s life.
Q: How do you see your chances for the title after that qualifying?
SV: For sure it would be much nicer to start from the front, but that’s not the case so I have to accept it. There have been other people before who have won from those kind of grid positions. It’s just much harder.
Q: Would you have done things differently? Would it have made any difference?
SV: That is difficult to say in hindsight, but my guess is that one or two tenths would have been possible and that would have been enough. Now it is as it is.
Q: Are you upset that you didn’t risk more?
SV: I’ve risked all I could. At some points I was swimming more than racing. I’ve earned my swimming badge today and some situations were very critical.
Q: Could the team have done things differently in your case?
SV: No, I don’t think so. The track had a window where fast laps were possible and we missed that window.
Q: BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld said that his grid result stems from the fact that he didn’t have enough chassis clearance. Was that also the case with you? Was your set-up too directed towards dry conditions?
SV: Well, at one point there was so much water on the track that two millimetres more or less chassis clearance wouldn’t have made so much difference.
Q: If the conditions are similar on Sunday how much is a good grid position worth after all?
SV: We know and have just witnessed that under such conditions anything is possible, so I hope for something similar tomorrow that eventually gives us the chance for a bottom-up coup. The speed was there as I did the fastest time when it was raining the most, so I hope that tomorrow the conditions will be just like today.
Q: You look pretty cheesed off. How long will it take to calm down?
SV: When I am in my car on the grid tomorrow then nothing that happened today has a meaning any more. Then I am totally focused on the race.
