Q: Tell us about qualifying?Sebastian Vettel: It was quite okay I would say, even though on the first run in Q3 I was not happy at all, as I had a huge moment in the first sector. So I thought that I might come in and pit early, but then you never know what will happen on the second try. So I stayed out, and I was still in a decent position. On my second attempt I made no mistakes and got it right at the chequered flag. But I had to wait a long time, as there were many cars still out. Sitting in the car and waiting felt endless. It's good to be on pole especially here, as this circuit is not really one of our favourites. But when you’re on the front row, how could you complain?
Q: Were you surprised by the speed that you have here?
SV: We did a good job here, as it was quite tough as we were also introducing a couple of new parts to the car. One of these things is the F-duct. It didn't work quite correctly yesterday, but we made a step forward overnight. Both, Mark and I are using it. It is an advantage, yes, but at the moment not as big as other people find it, but we will get there. We are still miles away from McLaren, as they are able to gain around four tenths when using it. All in all, the team did not get a lot of sleep last night, at the maximum two hours. It is good to be able to say thank you to the team by putting the cars in first and second position for the race.
Q: Renault are now firm Q3 runners. Are you surprised about that?
SV: It always depends on the updates that are made to a car, but mostly how you as a driver like the track and how your car in general likes the track. We saw this trend last year, where some teams on specific tracks perform better than at other tracks. But in the end you never know in Formula One, and it’s always a surprise. Of course you have the top teams and they will be at front, but still there is always the possibility to do great even if you are not one of them. So far this season it has been very entertaining and I hope that we are able to continue that way.
Q: The team said ‘welcome back’ to you over your radio. What exactly did that mean?
SV: We were very happy, as during the last three races we were amongst the top three, but things have not gone as we expected. Sometimes we screwed up, and sometimes we had bad luck. So now we are on pole, it’s very satisfying.
Q: Looking ahead to the race, what will be crucial for you to win?
SV: For sure a very good start with a clean first lap, and then maybe some luck, which we might not have had at the last couple of races. Then we should be able to stay in this position possibly until the end of the race. We have not had any issues throughout the weekend so far, so I am very optimistic for tomorrow. Also the car’s pace with heavy fuel load on Friday and with lighter fuel load on Saturday was extremely good. We have always been able to be at the front.
Q: Will McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton be a threat in the race?
SV: We know that the McLaren has a good top speed, and that they are quicker on the straights, but we are faster through the corners. So what we need is to be able to create a gap, as we are faster if you look over a full lap. So this would be our plan, but in the end things turn out to be different anyway. At least this is what we have learned from the last few races.
Source: Formula1.com
