Sebastian Vettel Q&A: What a track! I love Silverstone 10 Jul 2010
The saying goes that Silverstone is a drivers’ track - fast and furious. Last year Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel started from pole position before eventually winning the British Grand Prix. This year he has already bagged P1, so could Vettel also score a successive British victory? The young German is certainly hoping so…
Q: Sebastian, your fifth pole this season. You must be pretty satisfied…
Sebastian Vettel: I was really satisfied with my last qualifying lap. And boy, this is some race track! When you race at other tracks you probably think they are great and then you come here and this track opens your eyes. The combination of corners at such a high speed! I don’t know how to explain it - I am not so certain of the law of physics - but I can just say it’s incredible. I love this track and it has suited our car over the last two years. To be on pole is awesome. It is not so easy here to stay completely focused but if you manage to get a flawless lap it is an incredible feeling.
Q: Will you be as strong in the race?
SV: Sure being on pole is a comfortable position but I never forget that it is only Saturday and they don’t give points on Saturday. It’s a long race that is very demanding for the car and driver. So we have to keep our feet on the ground. We should be in good shape - and it is great racing here. I have really fond memories from last year when I made it on to the top spot of the podium. The trophy here is very nice, with all the names of the previous winners on it, and I would really like to get it to check if they spelt my name correctly!
Q: You and Mark were running different front wings…
SV: Well, tastes are different - that goes for everything in life and also for Formula One. We also run different set-ups many times so it is nothing special.
Q: Does it give you an extra boost to be on pole ahead of your team mate?
SV: Being on pole is what really matters. Team mate or not! It was pretty tight and luck was swung my way. I will start on the clean side of the track and that is quite an advantage.
Q: Between Webber and yourself it is always pretty tight. Does that make you nervous?
SV: If you look at the season and take every single race you can see that we both have done well so far, and the times when it didn’t work so well for me there were always specific issues behind it. There was the problem with the chassis that lasted a couple of races, but that’s how it sometimes goes. In such a situation it is important that you keep on believing in yourself and so far this has served me well.
Q: How important is it to be ahead of Webber?
SV: Sure it is important to be ahead of your team mate because he is the one with the same stuff, but in the end if you want to win, you have to stay in front of everybody else – not just your team mate . That is the difficult thing.
Q: How do you like the new part of the track?
SV: Well, Turn 11 has a big bump - it gives you a feeling like you are falling off a chair - at least that is what you feel when driving through it. I am a little surprised because after all it’s a new part of the track so I don’t understand how there can be such a big bump there - the tarmac should be flat! My guess is that everybody has had this problem there - some more, some less. Otherwise the revamped parts are not as slow as they seemed, it has a good flow even if such a slow corner is somewhat against the character of the old Silverstone course. Overall the fun of driving here is still there and that slow part doesn’t destroy the rhythm.
Q: Have you had any problems with the tyres? It’s been hot…
SV: Yes, that right. There is a heat wave over the UK! And no, we didn’t have any problems with either kind of tyres. The hard tyres seem to be very consistent and we’ve seen a bit of degradation with the soft tyres on the long run, but nothing really to worry about. We have had worse races this year.
