As the curtain comes down on the F1 Grand Prix of Europe, we find out who said what as we hear from Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and more...
With Sebastian Vettel enjoying a massive lead in the Drivers’ Championship and Red Bull Racing on pole at every race this year it was bizarre to arrive in Valencia with so many questions waiting to be answered ahead of the grand prix.
Another colourful, noisy and passionate Spanish crowd showed up in Valencia – and there wasn’t much doubt who they’d come to see…
“I really like coming here. It is not my home grand prix but the atmosphere here is something special. It is a little bit similar to Monaco but it is more relaxed. The grandstands are full. Fernando gets most of the support but being in the city, it’s nice.”
Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull Racing
'He's changed the sport in this country'
“Well, when I was a kid, Formula One was not important at all. I never saw a race on TV in my life until I was 17 or 18. There might be some news at the end of the year: who was World Champion, but we didn’t know any of the names that were racing. Now, I think it’s quite popular in Spain.”
Fernando Alonso – Ferrari
“He’s being very modest – he changed the sport in this country.”
Mark Webber – Red Bull Racing
“I think Spain has always been a motorbike country – and then Fernando came, won two titles and it all changed!”
Jaime Alguersuari – Scuderia Toro Rosso
When not answering questions about how great Fernando Alonso is, the other preoccupation is with the issue of engine maps. The FIA had decided teams had to use the same base map in the race as they did in qualifying. Inevitably there was speculation this would hurt Red Bull the most.
“It is not for us to say whether or not one team will be penalised more than another. If depends how extreme they’re going [with their previous map]. I’ve certainly seen evidence of maps from a number of teams that are ‘extremely’ extreme. And it’s not confined to one team.”
Charlie Whiting – Race Director
“I don’t think they will make the car any faster, but I think it is the same for everybody. We have got to adapt again, get used to it, but it is nothing new for our team to adapt to a change in regulations. I don’t think it is going to turn the field upside down.”
Mark Webber – Red Bull Racing
“I don’t think it will massively change qualifying. We [see] a superior car at the moment, a dominant car, the Red Bull, in qualifying and in the race as well. It seems that sometimes they push a little bit more, sometimes a little bit less. Because of that, in races you seem a little bit closer.”
Fernando Alonso – Ferrari
“The secret to a quick car is that there is never a silver bullet. It would be wrong to expect that this has been the sole reason behind the performance of the car, either this year or last year or the year before that.”
Christian Horner – Team Principal, Red Bull Racing
The Double DRS zone looked pointless in Canada, but maybe it would prove more effective in Valencia – only in its fourth year but already called ‘historically’ the most boring Grand Prix on the calendar.
“This is a place where, if we have a good car with the hot temperatures, it can really make a difference. The DRS zones give a great opportunity for overtaking, and with these tyres it is difficult to know what strategy to run.”
Jenson Button – McLaren
“Obviously in Canada the first activation zone was sufficient and the second one was really a bit of a bonus. I don’t think it worked out as intended. I think it could work here because we have two decent-sized zones.”
Charlie Whiting – Race Director
Getty Images
Qualifying sees Red Bull lock-out the front row, with Sebastian Vettel taking his seventh pole of the season. Mark Webber had an entirely new set of technical issues to cope with in this qualifying session, but managed to get them sorted out and lined up second. Lewis Hamilton was third ahead of the two Ferraris with Jenson Button sixth in the second McLaren.
“I think we had a good qualifying session. Generally I think a good build-up throughout the weekend. I think we picked up pace steadily, and in my case I felt more comfortable in the car. That’s important.”
Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull Racing
“It looks like we had a bit of a brake balance issue so we have recovered from that and then in the end did a very good job with getting back onto the front row ahead of our main rivals. It is quite easy to misjudge the braking point [for the last corner]. I was very, very lucky on my last lap and got it right so that helped me get the front row but it is easy to run out of talent and not look too good there.”
Mark Webber – Red Bull Racing
“I’m quite happy with the pace that we had. I think it’s good for us to be able to be up ahead of the Ferraris this weekend, compared to the previous race. [Can McLaren race Red Bull?] ah, that is always the question but we’re as close as we can be.”
Lewis Hamilton – McLaren
Vettel got away well, led into the tricky Turn Two, and then completed the very rare feat of leading from lights to flag.
“I didn’t have a fight or anybody to race but you race against yourself and the car and always against the guys behind – so it was a long, tough race. It helps having that little bit of a cushion, so we always came in a lap later. The others come in earlier and so got closer to me, so I had to build up a gap again each time, really trying to get a tenth or two every lap. It was a faultless race and I enjoyed it a lot.”
Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull Racing
Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso fought a ding-dong battle for second and third, the Spaniard finally coming out on top. Mark, though, believes he perhaps should have snatched second.
“There was a lot of criticism about the strategy in Canada, putting on the intermediate tyres and then it rained. But I think that is more bad luck than wrong strategy. Today we did very well: we overtook one Red Bull at the end and hopefully that will be in the papers tomorrow as well.”
Fernando Alonso – Ferrari
“I think there are a lot of positives from this race for me. It was a clean, straight fight at the front for the first time since Turkey, probably, not having any real hiccups… I’m disappointed myself: at the end I probably pitted a bit too early. I was a bit worried about Fernando coming underneath us. In the end, that was my call, so no fault of the team, at all. They did a really good job around the stops. We didn’t give it to Fernando but we helped him get second, – but anyway, a very strong result.”
Mark Webber – Red Bull Racing
All of the top 10 opted for three stops – except Jaime Alguersuari, who used a two-stop strategy and the willpower of 85,000 spectators to drag him forward from 18th on the grid to 8th in the race.
'This result is a reward for the mechanics'
“It definitely paid off to concentrate on race set-up. This was a fantastic race and I want to thank my mechanics who worked so hard after the problems we had with my car on Friday. This result is a reward I am happy to give them. Apart from working well with the tyres, I think the updates the team brought here were also a contributing factor, as they worked well and that partly explains why my pace was really good.”
Jaime Alguersuari – Scuderia Toro Rosso
While perhaps not the most exciting victory of his career, Sebastian claimed it was his best. The only thing to dampen his spirits were the growing suggestions that he has a second World Championship in the bag.
“To be honest, I don’t look at the scoreboard much. It’s a very, very long season… The most important time to lead the championship is after the last race, and not really before.
Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull Racing
And so the teams packed down, loaded their transporters and headed for Silverstone. The British Grand Prix has seen the current generation of Red Bull cars destroy the opposition in the last three years, but with more technical changes to come, nothing is certain…
Want more?
- Visit Red Bull Racing's website
- Read Sebastian Vettel's lastest blog
- Lewis Hamilton concedes the F1 championship
Getty Images
Comments
Add a comment