Q&A with Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel 24 Sep 2011
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was characteristically serene in the Singapore paddock on Saturday, after claiming his 11th pole position of the season. Next up for Vettel is the race, at which he may clinch a second successive title. We caught up with the German driver to discuss qualifying...
Q: Sebastian, you’ve clinched your 11th pole position of the season and could clinch the title on Sunday. You seem so serene. Like an old pro…
Sebastian Vettel: I must be ageing quickly. At the box office at the cinema and when I try to buy a beer they still ask for my ID card as they don’t believe my age!
Q: The race could mean the title…
SV: Well, being just quick here doesn’t help. You have to be clever to win here. My guess is that with DRS it will be much easier than in previous years to overtake so you have to be cautious. I hope that there is no need for me to overtake for crucial positions, but then you never know. I will look ahead and not behind.
Q: A while ago your fellow driver Timo Glock bet on you winning the title this season. Is it payday for him on Sunday?
SV: Ha, first of all I have to find out how big the bet was and if his trust in me was large enough! But to be serious - I don’t know. It is not our first objective to win the title tomorrow. It is our objective to win the race. Sure it would be great if it did happen tomorrow but we only promised ourselves that we would win the title. So whether it happens at one race or another doesn’t make a huge difference. We should stick to our initial plan - to make it happen in 2011 and not mind about when or where.
Q: It’s your fourth pole position in a row. How special is this pole position?
SV: Of course it’s very special! And very important as street circuits are always a bit narrower and away from the race line it is dirtier than on purpose built tracks, so starting ahead of everybody else is definitely an advantage. And to do a perfect lap is not easy here. To put all three sectors together for a perfect lap is very tricky as you have so many corners and kerbs where you can lose out or damage the car when you’re driving on the limit. I was pretty satisfied with how qualifying went today.
Q: Were you worried that Ferrari and McLaren may have been stronger here?
SV: No, I think we rated them pretty accurately. We probably didn’t expect the kind of gaps there were, but my guess is that in the race it will be much closer than what we’ve seen in qualifying.
Q: We haven’t had a race in Singapore yet where the safety car didn’t play a part. Is that a concern to you?
SV: Not really because you cannot count on a safety-car phase. If we could it would be nice as we would put less fuel in the car. So no, it’s no concern at all.
Q: Everything that you do seems so incredibly easy. You just seem to pull great performances out of a hat…
SV: In Formula One there is no such hat that you can pull things out of. Unfortunately. I definitely have to give it all - and more - to squeeze everything out of the car. Especially here it is anything but easy. It’s the longest lap of the year so mistakes can add up. So I am more than happy with how it worked out today. Tomorrow is another matter.
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