Sebastian Vettel Q&A: Red Bull need to work, work, work 29 Jul 2012
Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel was understandably far from satisfied with his fourth place in Hungary on Sunday, even if he did take two points out of Fernando Alonso’s championship lead. If those two points ultimately make the difference in the 2012 title race, perhaps he’ll look back differently on Budapest, but that is some way off…
Q: Sebastian, having kept Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber behind you, was that enough to make your day?
Sebastian Vettel: Probably not, but it was our maximum. The start was not so great and I lost my spot to Jenson (Button) in the first corner, which in the following laps was very costly on time - otherwise we could have tried something. If you decide to pit earlier you run into traffic as the gaps aren’t there in that very moment. So as I just said, we’ve achieved the maximum in the situation we’ve been in.
Q: There was a strategy switch - can you tell us why the move to ‘Plan B’?
SV: All strategy games start with the position you’re in after the first lap - to decide about the first stint. Of course it is frustrating to know that you can go faster but have no chance to pass, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.
Q: When did you abandon the battle against Romain Grosjean?
SV: Two laps before the chequered flag. We tried something and it could have come our way. Unfortunately for us it didn’t, but at least we’ve tried.
Q: The third stop - was it only for safety reasons?
SV: No, because the tyres probably wouldn’t have lasted until the end. And, of course, it was the reasoning that maybe others will run into tyre trouble in the last few laps. But that didn’t happen.
Q: So what has to be done so that it will work better in Spa?
SV: Well, I think that the speed is definitely there, but the consistency is probably our sore spot. So the only thing that really will help is working, working, working.
Q: Your disappointment is obvious…
SV: …I don’t know what you expect? We sit in the car for one and a half hours, race at the limit, it is hot as hell, and then you sit in traffic - which in itself is not a huge satisfier - and you know that you cannot get airborne to get into a better position. All you can do then is to stay focused. And of course if you know that you’ve been fighting for every inch and it didn’t pay off, that is a bit frustrating.
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