Sebastian Vettel talks tactics

Sebastian Vettel's clever strategy ensured the young German leaves Europe with a smile on his face after claiming fourth place at the Italian Grand Prix...

‘I think our tactics were absolutely spot on today. Even though I had a little problem in the middle where I though I had no power anymore, the race went pretty well.

When we were planning our pitstop, we watched the other teams very closely. It was taking a few laps to get their tyres up to temperature and even though ours weren't at their best, we were still fast. That's why we stopped so late.

Looking back at all the races of this year, I can really say that I've learned a lot. It is important to take something with you from every situation and let nothing scare or unsettle you.

You should just stick with those people who are really there for you and always give your best. The rest will come automatically.

I can't wait for the night race in Singapore.’
Sebastian

Source: Red Bull

Vettel diaries: Satisfied with solid Spa qualifying

'The qualifying today was really tight and everything would have been possible with the weather that we had today. You could see it pretty well in Q1: I was last in the row and had no one in front of me, but by that time the whole track was under water! And driving in those conditions is really tricky with dry tyres.

All in all, Q2 was solid, but unfortunately I made some small mistakes in the second sector in Q3 and my driving was a bit too conservative.

So although it wasn't enough for pole position, I am still satisfied with today's result because the car was very fast. I can't really say anything concrete about tomorrow because the weather is unpredictable at the moment.

I am just going to focus on the start and hope to get to the front.

Speak to you tomorrow.

Sebastian

GOOD TO GET BACK TO BUSINESS – VETTEL

The summer break has put Sebastian Vettel in a positive frame of mind as he puts the frustration of the Hungarian Grand Prix behind him and gets ready to get his F1 title challenge back on track in Belgium. We catch up with his blog...

‘We are back from holiday, at last! As nice as it was to lay back and relax for a few weeks, I am really looking forward to our last two races in Europe.

I was pretty angry with myself after the stupid mistake I made in Hungary, but all that was forgotten by Monday morning.

In fact I was very happy that Mark managed to take the win, because that is what you want in the end: if you can't win yourself, you want your team-mate to win and luckily that’s what happened.

I think I have a very good chance to win the world championship. There’s five drivers still in the chase and there’s not much between us, so I want to focus on having seven amazing races. Every single point really does count.

I am particularly looking forward to this weekend: the track is very challenging and also a lot of fun. Hopefully the weather will stay good and we’ll have a good run at first practice this morning.

All the best,'

Sebastian

Source: RedBull.com

‘Not as bad as it looks’ – Vettel

‘We had a really good race and scored a lot of important points for the team, but it could have been more – and due to a mistake I made, we weren't able to get them.

This is what happened: I thought the safety car would stay out for one more lap and that’s why I left such a big gap.

To make matters worse, I lost contact with team radio. I was waiting for a message to tell me when the safety car was coming off, but nothing came.

So I didn't really know why I got the drive-through penalty, which was pretty irritating. After I did the drive-through, I got stuck behind Fernando (Alonso). Even though I was faster than him, I couldn't overtake because the Hungaroring doesn't have many overtaking spots.

But all in all, it will all be forgotten by tomorrow. If you look back, we proved how strong we are and it could look very different after another two or three races. Our car is the fastest and I have total faith in the team and my abilities.

For now, we're all going to relax and I am going to write you guys again from Spa in three weeks’ time. Have an amazing summer!’

-- Sebastian

Vettel diaries: Wednesday, GP of Europe preview

The track in Valencia is pretty similar to the one in Montreal, with a lot of straights and full speed sections. The difference in Valencia will be that we will use the F-duct on Friday during practice in order to improve top speed on the straights. The fact that we were close to our competitors in Canada, without the F-duct, gives us hope. The gap to the top isn’t that big and I hope we can make a step forward in the Constructors’ as well as in the Drivers' Championship this weekend.

Looking to other Championships, I hope that Germany will win against Ghana tonight and then get to the final ...

Source: sebastianvettel.de

A Taste Of F1 for the Netherlands

Sebastian took time out yesterday to support up and coming drivers at a karting challenge in the Netherlands.

Red Bull had searched the country for 26 racing talents to take part in the Kart Final Fight at the GP Masters of Formula 3 event at the Circuit Park Zandvoort and our man was there to pass on advice and hand over trophies to the winners: Mark Megens (14) and Sander van Os (26)

After the races and the prize-giving Vettel took the Red Bull Running Showcar down the start-finish straight to demonstrate some straight-line speed, donuts and burn-outs.

As well as the drivers attending former Dutch footaball star Edgar Davids was on hand. Possibly to ask Seb the best way to take a corner…

Seb's diary, Zandvoort

Today I stopped by at the Masters of Formula 3 at Zandvoort (Holland).

Early in the morning I had a briefing with the kart winners from a karting championship that had been going for weeks, with the final to take place today. The kids were aged 15 or under 15, that was very funny because the questions were sometimes quite different from the ones I get asked over and over otherwise.

Then I watched the final kart race of the children, in which two children were honored in two different classes. I could give them their trophy on the podium and then we celebrated the victory with a kind of sparkling water ...

I immediately reminded of my karting times, but I had not been to the podium in the Formula Masters...

After we went to the podium press conference at which I sat between the two winners and we were asked questions.

After the Formula 3 race where I distributed the trophies, I could finally check out the track in a show car. After a few laps I took my leave with some burn outs. It was really fun. Now we go to Montreal.

Sources: Red Bull, sebastianvettel.de

Vettel diaries: Monaco, Saturday

After securing a second row place on the grid, Seb looks back over qualifying and forward to tomorrow’s grid.

“Qualifying was pretty tough - it didn't go perfectly, but our cars will definitely push our competitors hard in tomorrow's race.

Congratulations to Mark - he did an awesome job today. He was able to improve his time over the whole lap and not just at one point of the track. I'm sure that I could have done better, but maybe I wanted it too much.

It was important we demonstrated our cars are also fast on tight city tracks. Scoring a great grid position in Monaco is an advantage, but you still have to prove yourself in the race. You need to have the right strategy at the right time.

I sure won't try anything risky at the start. I'll just focus on staying at the clean side of the track and maybe I'm able to overtake Robert Kubica. Once I'm on the second position, we'll see what happens next.

I am certain that we can score a lot of important points tomorrow. Nothing is decided yet in the championship, mainly because both Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button will start behind me.”

Source: Red Bull

Vettel diaries: Monaco, Thursday

In his first diary from Monaco, Sebastian talks safety and what his plans for that precious day off.

“Monaco is a very special track that tests you right to the - just one tiny mistake and you collide with the wall and that’s your race over.

Luckily, safety has improved over the last few years. Of course, there are still some dangerous parts: like when you drive up to the Casino and don't know what's behind the dome - all that is left for you to do is hope no-one has had a problem and stopped right there.

The qualifying and race will be pretty tough. Our cars are great but other teams have shown an equally good performance. Ferrari did great, along with Mercedes and, as always, you should never underestimate McLaren.

Today's practice went absolutely to plan – we were able to complete a lot of laps which means I feel great; totally comfortable.

Tomorrow we have the day off, but I still have plans: I'll sleep in a little longer, work out a bit and then return to the track to analyse the first practice sessions.”

Source: Red Bull

Chinese GP - Vettel diaries - Saturday

Post-Qualifying Sebastian’s thoughts turn to team morale, the weather and the McLarens…

Practice was interesting this morning – I did think at one stage pole was out of our reach. But after another great Qualifying we’re again on the front row. OK, it was a bit tight, but it’s the result that counts. To be honest, we were pretty surprised to get both cars on the front row.

We had thought McLaren would be stronger and I don’t really know why they didn't do that well in the qualifying. The most important thing is that we were able to give all we had. Pole position can be a huge advantage, since it's the weather for tomorrow won't be as good as it was today. If it really rains and you're stuck in the middle of the field you can hardly see anything because of all the spray.

Of course, you can never tell how everything will go in the race. Spirits within the team - with the two cars in P1 ad P2 - is amazing. But the atmosphere in the team was always great, even before the win in Malaysia, when we had a few problems. When it comes to the reliability of the car, we’ve made a huge step forward. You shouldn't forget that the cars are built on their limits and things break once in a while - that's normal, even in the other teams.

But we’ll concentrate on tomorrow: if you spin during the race, no-one’s going to wait for you, everyone is looking out for themselves.

All that’s left for me to say is that we definitely have the best start position. Wish me luck!

Sebastian

Source: Red Bull

Vettel loses in Shanghai... at Ping Pong + Seb's diary

Seb’s first contest of the weekend was at table tennis, but he didn’t do very well.

Sebastian was comprehensively beaten by Li Qiang, a student at Shanghai’s sports university. The match was filmed by UK broadcaster the BBC and Seb only managed to take a single point.

He said afterwards: “I played at school when I was young, but here, in China this is like the national sport, so it’s no surprise I didn’t do too well.”

It’s not known if Li Qiang was prepared to take on Sebastian in a straight-line race.


Vettel's Diary Thursday: My Chinese Charm

In his first diary entry from Shanghai, China, Sebastian Vettel writes about his problematic journey, his first words in Chinese and his of-track sporting activities...

The weather here is - just like previous years - always changing. It's really cold and everyone I come across is wearing at least one jacket. I hope it’ll be warmer on Sunday, but I guess we'll have to wait and.

The first problem of the weekend wasn’t at the track, but on my journey to China: 20 seconds before our plane took off, the pilots discovered a problem with one engine. We had to return to the terminal and get into another plane. But there you go: it's better to discover a problem 20 seconds before take-off, than 20 seconds after it…

We really like the track in Shanghai. After all, this is where we won our first race. The country seems to be a bit of a lucky charm. My Chinese isn't fluent, but I can say 'Good morning', 'Thank you' and 'Goodbye'. Hopefully, I'll learn the word for 'Victory' pretty soon too.

I’ve already done some sports off-track. The BBC invited me to play table tennis against a pro. I didn't do great, but I was able to score one point. That one ball was just too fast for my opponent!

Sebastian

Source: Red Bull

The Vettel Diaries: entry 1 - Bahrain GP

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Hmm… what can I say about the track in Bahrain? Well, there’s a lot of asphalt lying around. Joking apart, I have spent the majority of my time observing the new parts of the track here at Sakhir. They’ve always been there, but we in F1 have never driven on them before. I’ve focused on their camber and kerbs, and tried to find the right line to be the fastest.

Besides that, the most eyecatching thing here is the huge amount of cameras. Everyone, no matter how funny they look or which race suit they wear, immediately gets mobbed. The reason they’re here? One name: Michael Schumacher. A lot of people have come to Bahrain just to see his comeback. Does it bother me? Not at all. It actually has the opposite effect, and the worldwide interest it’s created is just amazing for our sport.

Sure, Michael is 41 years old and has been around a long time, but he hasn’t reached the end of the line yet. The fact that he is my next-door neighbour in the pitlane won’t change anything, either. Sure, I’ll say ‘hi’ and ‘goodbye’ a few times, but I am only focusing on myself and my team. Everyone has his own things to do, especially at the beginning of the season.

I know that I will be battling four world champions in the fight for the title this season, but I don’t really care what they do. As you guys know, I have my own goal: I want to be exactly where I got to last year, hoping that the final press conference will be with five world champions.
Maybe the little experience I had earlier today can be seen as a lucky sign: I pulled my hand back from scratching my neck and there was a little ladybird sitting on it. I hope it will be a lucky charm – I’m really sorry if I hurt him a bit!

Till tomorrow,

Sebastian

Source: Red Bull