Interview with Sebastian Vettel

When your odds of winning the title are as slim as Sebastian Vettel’s, you need all the luck you can get - hence the Red Bull driver’s decision to keep the ‘lucky’ beard that served him so well at the last round in Japan. And the new talisman seems to have retained its powers in Brazil - rain, or ‘Vettel weather’, is forecast throughout the Interlagos weekend. The German, however, insists his RB5 is a great package in any conditions - and that a focussed mind can achieve the seemingly impossible…

Q: You come here from your fantastic win in Japan knowing that you have to win again. How do you approach this weekend?
Sebastian Vettel: With the same approach as in Japan. We try to do our best, give our maximum and push as hard as we can. As everybody knows, I have to win - and that’s what I am trying to do. But it is also true that if you force things you might achieve the opposite, so we follow our normal procedures and see how it goes.

Q: But that ‘must win’ scenario - doesn’t that put you under extra pressure?
SV: Well, we have a very straightforward plan: we want to win the next two races - and, of course to make it really happen is much, much harder. It is also in their (Rubens Barrichello’s and Jenson Button’s) hands. In the last couple of races they’ve done their best not to score too many points and I hope that they continue that way.

Q: So is your job this weekend to make trouble for the two guys in the white cars?
SV: I think they’re doing their best on their own - they don’t need help. From the outside everything might look nice and cosy - like we are friends and all that - but I think on the inside it’s a little bit of a different story.

Q: You have Mark Webber on your side to support you whereas Jenson and Rubens still have to fight it out. Does that help?
SV: Ah, first I have to beat Mark. He is not on a joyride when he gets in his car. But for sure if the situation might come up that I might need help in any way he’s the last one to deny it. He will do anything to help the team.

Q: Two years ago Kimi Raikkonen’s victory here in Sao Paulo showed that everything is possible in Formula One racing. Is he an example for you of keeping the faith to the very end?
SV: One of them, yes. But it is not only Formula One where things can change last minute - that happens in other sports as well. What it teaches is that you should never give up believing in yourself and your ability that you still can do it.

Q: So how do you see your chances for this weekend? Many already say that we have ‘Vettel weather’. Do you agree?
SV: If everything comes to a happy ending on Sunday afternoon I would agree, but there is still a long weekend ahead of me and when it rains it also means that there is more risk - but probably this is what we need.

Q: Would you say that the Red Bull is stronger in wet conditions?
SV: No, not necessarily. We have shown that we are also strong in the dry, so in reality we don’t mind what weather conditions there will be.

Q: Would you say that on a track like Interlagos your engine situation will be even more difficult?
SV: No. At the last races we’ve saved a lot of mileage so it should be okay.

Q: In Japan Mark started from the back of the grid and it looked more like a test session than a race. What was learnt by the team that could help you at this race?
SV: Unfortunately his race was predictable as he didn’t qualify well as he damaged his chassis in practice. So they tested a new front wing which we will race here. The outcome was very positive, although it’s hard to say what that means in real lap time. The hope is that it will give us a little extra boost.

Q: This track has two long straights and slow corners - will that work against your package?
SV: No. If you take Singapore, with only slow corners and long straights, we’ve been very competitive there. We had the best pace on Sunday but unfortunately got stuck in traffic. We didn’t win there, so ultimately we didn’t do the best job. Then came Suzuka with its high-speed corners, and we won the race. Now we come here - a track somewhere in between Singapore and Suzuka - and we should be okay.

Q: Do you have your lucky charms with you to enhance your chances?
SV: Not now - but for sure on Sunday!