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1. Sebastian VETTEL (Red
Bull), 1h34m03.414s
2. Mark WEBBER (Red Bull), 1h34m21.271s
3. Jenson BUTTON (Brawn), 1h34m21.881s
Q: Sebastian, you took the fight to Lewis Hamilton in the early stages. You
managed to get ahead of him. It was another powerful performance today.
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it was. A fantastic race. First of all the start and
we had a very good launch. Obviously not good enough to out-accelerate
Lewis, but I was very close. I was surprised. Then going on the long back
straight he pushed a button and that’s it, he disappeared in the distance.
But I was able to stay close enough. We knew that we were a little bit
heavier, so the key was to catch up, especially the last sector where the
car was a dream today. I was always catching him up quite a lot and I think
that was the secret, to stay with him, then with the pit stops and a lot of
pressure entering the pit lane, I nearly went a bit wide at the entrance.
Then that scary exit through the tunnel but on the limit and enough to get
past him. Unfortunately, he then had to retire but up to that point it was a
fantastic race. After that I had a little bit of a cushion to Mark and
Jenson behind and I was able to pace myself a bit but until the end the car
was fantastic and was working brilliantly on both tyres, both compounds. I
think the prime was the favoured tyre today but also on the option towards
the end it was a pleasure this evening to sit in the car. To sum up the
season, it is up and down. I think the second half we have been very strong
with four one-two finishes for Red Bull Racing, so congratulations to the
team. They have been pushing, working a lot back in the factory, and we can
see that the car is getting quicker. It is a shame now that the season ends
but it is a perfect day to finish the season on a high.
Q; Mark, fantastic fight with Jenson in the closing stages. Tell us all
about it.
Mark WEBBER: Well, first of all from the start I made a pretty good launch
and had a bit of a look on the outside of Seb but the main game was really
trying to get back on the inside and getting a clean exit as I knew it was a
long run down to turn five. I got hit quite hard in the left rear at the
first corner and was worried about a puncture but the team kept telling me
the tyre had enough pressure, so I was quite relieved I didn’t have a
puncture. It looked like Lewis was struggling a little bit in the first few
laps, so both of us were able to sit a little bit closer than we expected.
Then it started to stabilise and I was pretty happy on the primes. Seb was
just that little bit quicker today on both stints, all three stints,
especially the last one. I had not much of a feeling on the option and it
was the same for me on Friday. I was quite slow on that tyre, so I preferred
the stability of the prime. I thought at the end we had a bit of a short
fuel, so fortunately JB could do some good laps on the overlap and close the
gap down on me. I thought ‘yeah, this is going to be quite tight at the
end.’ I just had to make sure I was accurate with my braking points. We know
he had a slight top speed advantage but not much and it is a credit to how
he has driven all year. We had a good clean fight, on the limit, but I just
want to congratulate the team for their patience with me at the start of the
year coming back from what happened. It has been very enjoyable driving with
Sebastian this year. Renault have given us a fantastic engine and overall
Red Bull can be incredibly proud for what they achieved. We have had 16
podiums together, so it is good.
Q: Jenson, that battle from your perspective and also a battle again with
Kamui Kobayashi.
Jenson BUTTON: It was a fun race. For me the prime tyre was not my favourite
tyre in the race and I had a lot of understeer in the car. But when
Kobayashi was on a one-stopper I came out and the first big stop is turn
eight and when you have got that much fuel on board it is always very
difficult to judge the braking point. I slightly outbraked myself and locked
the rears and the fronts and ran a bit wide and he got past. In reality it
didn’t make a difference to my race as he was quicker than me at that point.
Then I was struggling a little bit with the prime tyre but I tried to make
the best out of it. After the second stop I found I had very good grip with
the option tyre. I got back the front issues I had with the prime and had
very good initial turn in which meant I could carry a lot of speed through.
That’s why I was able to close down Mark. The last couple of laps were a lot
of fun. I couldn’t make the move stick. I was very excited by the battle and
I thought I could pull it off but Mark is always a very difficult person to
overtake. We were clean but on the edge, so it was perfect. Disappointed not
to get that second place but I really enjoyed the fight today and today for
me has been a bonus after winning the championship in Brazil. I have really
enjoyed driving this weekend a car that has been very competitive, so I need
to thank everyone at Brawn and Mercedes Benz for all their hard work. After
Brazil it would have been easy to say ‘right, let’s just enjoy ourselves and
not concentrate on Abu Dhabi’ but we did and we have come away with a podium
which is a nice way to end the year and everyone should be very proud of
themselves for what we have achieved. But lastly I would like to say
congratulations to Seb. He did a sterling job today. They had the legs on us
and we just couldn’t challenge them which is a pity but all round I think
the first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was a good one and I am looking forward to
coming back.
Q: Sebastian, Red Bull has won the last three races of the season, so let’s
look forward a little bit. What does that say about where you are going to
be going into next season.
SV: It would be very good to continue like that. Now we will face a long
winter, especially for all of us drivers, a long break without any testing.
Back in England, back in the factory, the guys are pushing very hard. The
cars do not change that much next year. The biggest change is that you are
not allowed to refuel. But we will see. It is a bit unknown. I think this
season was very special. I remember a couple of years back these two were
driving and I was watching and it was pretty much set after the first couple
of races who was going to win each race. Fair enough there were only two
teams. This year it was totally different, very exciting and a lot of
overtaking. Different teams on top, so I think a special season all around
and hopefully the next one will be as exciting as this one, even a bit more,
we will see. Definitely looking forward. I think to sum it up we had a very
good season, a lot of positive things, but also some things we probably did
wrong. But it is not a shame. We just need to know and understand why that
happened and we should come back stronger next year.
Q: Mark, Red Bull a top team. Are you here to stay?
MW: Yes, absolutely. We have got an incredible team back at the factory. We
know that we have got under Adrian Newey someone that with him leading these
type of regulation changes, particularly with what we had at the start of
this year, it was clear as soon as we saw the car that it was going to be a
bit of a weapon. Unfortunately in a way Brawn got the start with the double
diffuser and things like that but in the end our team responded well with
great character and next year there is absolutely no reason whatsoever for
us not to be starting at the front again. I would much, much prefer to be in
our position than quite a few other teams but we can never get too
complacent. This is Formula One and things can change quickly but we are
positive about next year, no question about it.
Q: Jenson, no win to round off the season but obviously an upbeat ending for
you.
JB: For sure. It is always nice to end on a high but it is the same for
everyone out there. It is a very competitive field. It is not just one team
at the front. All season it has been up and down for us and for these guys
and also for McLaren and the Ferraris. It is a very competitive and
challenging season for us all, so for all three of us to be up on the podium
at the last race is very enjoyable and it is a great way to round out the
year. Now I am going to enjoy myself and celebrate what I have achieved this
season.
SV: I hear you are getting married.
JB: Are you proposing?
SV: I heard you will get married.
JB: You know, they write great things in the press. Thank you for that one
Seb, but I am going to enjoy this as we often look too far into the future
and I want to just enjoy this moment and then I will look to the future
after that.
Q: Sebastian, you are the first winner of the first day-night race in Abu
Dhabi. Sum up the weekend for you.
SV: Unbelievable. We came here and we tried to prepare as much as possible,
looking at the lay-out, doing some laps in the simulator. But driving the
first couple of laps it was extremely slippery. It is a new track but it has
rubbered in perfectly well. Really enjoyable all race. It is a challenging
circuit. Every lap you need to focus and keep up the concentration. It is
pretty easy to do a mistake and it can cost a lot of time. There are some
corners that are quite tricky and they are made to lead you into mistakes,
so you really need to be careful but all in all, starting at day, finishing
at night is special. We have a dark tear-off and the moment you rip it off
it is like someone has switched on the light, so it is quite unique. All in
all a great place. Amazing what they have done here in that short period of
time, so winning the race, one-two for Red Bull Racing, I think it cannot be
much better.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, this gives you an excellent position with second in the
championship. What are your feelings about that?
SV: I am very proud. First of all I think there was a misunderstanding in
Brazil and didn’t have the chance: so congratulations to Jenson, to Brawn. I
think they truly deserve it. Over the season they did the better job. But
after Brazil coming here we knew that we had a very, very strong package and
the priority for myself was to secure second in the drivers’ championship
and we succeeded. To do it with the victory is the best possible result. I
am very, very happy. It was a fantastic race. It was a good start but not
enough to catch Lewis but good enough to stay close. When we went on the
back straight he pushed the button and disappeared. It was quite shocking to
see how much it is worth, but we were a little bit heavier but still able to
go his pace, stay with him. It is not easy when you follow another car. Even
though you are a couple of seconds behind you still feel it is not as if you
are on your own in clean air. But that was the key, pushing very hard and
then obviously when I had the two overlaps on him it was quite exciting to
leave the pits through the tunnel. It was very slippery and on new tyres you
have silicon on the surface and it takes a little while. You go through the
tunnel and it is very easy to make a mistake. Knowing I am fighting for the
lead I knew I had to push. It was enough to get him. Unfortunately he then
had to retire. I heard he had a braking problem, but up to that point I
enjoyed it very much. It was a nice fight even though it wasn’t
wheel-to-wheel but both of us were pushing very hard. After that I had a bit
more of a cushion and was able to set my pace according to the pace of the
guys behind, so all in all the car was fantastic, both compounds worked
surprisingly well. I think the majority favoured the prime, so did we, but
even on the option the last stint was great and to win here I am very proud.
Starting the race at day time and finishing at night is very special. Great
circuit. A great job they did here. Now I think I have said enough.
Q: Mark, tremendous amount of pressure at the end; what was the circuit like
to race on, especially as you were having to defend. We also saw you make a
little mistake and go off the circuit; how difficult was it to race on?
MW: Well, it was pretty dusty off-line, not massively but a little bit
dirty. I got a little bit hot into turn one on one of the laps. Once you get
on the Astroturf you just have to open the steering and get behind the kerb.
And then at the end, fighting with Jenson, I knew that the two big stops
were key to the lap – obviously he wasn’t going to do much anywhere else but
Jenson’s form in overtaking this year has been pretty good, so I knew I had
to be perfect with my braking points and do the best I could with the last
few laps. I turned out to be OK. My last stint clearly wasn’t one of my best
this year in terms of I didn’t have a great feeling on the option and that
made it a bit more difficult, a few more grey hairs for everyone, but the
option was difficult for me on Friday as well, so in the end, second place
was as good as I was ever going to get today. Congratulations to Sebastian
on the win, he’s had the measure of me in the last sector probably most of
the weekend, so I presumed it to be the same again in the race. We did the
best job as we could as a team, capitalised on other people’s lack of
preparation and we delivered a one-two which is exactly what we came here to
achieve. As I said before, I think that’s 16 podiums for the team and that’s
something that everyone can be extremely happy about. I’m certainly happy,
obviously, off the back of my best season ever. Of course, I would have
liked to have had some more points here and there but it could have been a
hell of a lot worse for me, so I will take this season, let me tell you.
Q: Jenson, for you, interesting that you mentioned that the option was the
better tyre. Do you think that if you did two stints on the option you might
have been closer to Red Bull?
JB: Yeah, for sure but we didn’t expect that to be the case. All weekend
we’ve been running through our practices thinking that the prime was the
better tyre. We’ve been using the prime like the option: for example, saving
it for the end of practice two and practice three, so we could get a feel
for it for qualifying. It was the best tyre for qualifying but in the race I
was really struggling for a balance on the harder tyre. I had a lot of
understeer in the car and the colder the circuit temperature got, the more
difficult it was for me to get heat into the fronts. So I was suffering with
that, especially in the second stint and I don’t know if you could notice,
but Rubens was quite close behind me at the start of the second stint, he
was sitting right on my tail, but I was able to put a little bit of a gap on
him before the second stop, and then when we put the soft tyre on, the car
was transformed, it felt great. The lap times were reasonably good and I was
able to pull Mark in. The big issue for me on the hard tyres was understeer,
so putting the option on… suddenly I had this great front end that I could
just carry so much more speed into the corners. I don’t know if you saw on
TV, but it was a little bit loose on exit but that’s the way you have to
drive the car round here. It was a great race, I really enjoyed it and as I
said in the unilateral, this race is a bonus to me, because I got the
championship in Brazil, so I came here to enjoy myself and that’s exactly
what I did. Qualifying wasn’t perfect but the race was pretty much as good
as we could have expected, I think. I had a good tussle with Mark on the
last lap, a fair fight but obviously very close and enjoyed it a lot. I
didn’t make that move stick but I had a lot of fun. So I’m a little bit
disappointed not to be second but I’m on the podium at the last race of the
year, a year that’s been exceptional and I’m very happy with what’s happened
this season and the way the team has performed. Probably when it’s been
toughest, I respect the team for the effort that they’ve put in then, so
they should all be very proud of themselves and that’s Brawn GP and
Mercedes-Benz for what they’ve achieved. At the moment, I’m just going to
enjoy this, this is big and I’m not going to concentrate on next year, I’m
going to relax and enjoy this moment.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Sebastian, now that the season is over, do
you have any regrets from the previous Grands Prix?
SV: No. We can’t change yesterday, we can change tomorrow. The key now is
obviously, looking back, five races where we didn’t finish. Sometimes we
should have brought some points back home and we didn’t, so we need to
understand why that was and as I say, change tomorrow, obviously learn,
learn a lesson and try to come back stronger for next year. Overall, I think
the circumstances sometimes weren’t easy to accept. Sometimes that happens,
sometimes it’s just not supposed to be. Sometimes little mistakes happen
from whoever’s side. I’m not here to blame anyone in particular.
Nevertheless, I think it was a very, very strong season. If anything, I
think Mark and myself and the whole team got very, very strong towards the
end, we have won the last three races as a team. I think we have learned
already, but there is still a lot we can improve for the future, and
hopefully we will do so and come back stronger next year.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Mark, you struggled on the
options at the end; was it because you had a busy out lap where you had
overstressed the tyre or what could have been the reason?
MW: Not really. I think the movement of the tyre was the same on Friday for
me. I didn’t really feel the tyre that well. It was just not as stable as
the prime and I felt that immediately on Friday and I was hoping that it
would be a lot better with a rubbered-in circuit but I couldn’t commit. It
was half a tenth every corner, one tenth every corner and it adds up to be a
lot, compared to the prime. And then, when you’re getting caught you
obviously have to really make sure that you’re not making any mistakes to
give him even more of a chance to pounce, so I had to then go into a bit
more of a conservative mode and make sure that I didn’t give it too easily.
He had to make sure he worked for it. That’s what happened in the last 15
laps.
Q: (Anne Giuntini – L’Equipe) To all three of you: considering there is a
long break before February, I suppose you won’t be on holiday all the time.
What is your working programme?
SV: Jenson’s getting married, we heard. So he’s busy.
MW: And we’re all invited as well.
SV: Yeah, everyone.
JB: Next question.
MW: But Japan’s a long way.
SV: Obviously I have a pretty stressful week, following up, stress and fun
at the same time. We are going to Beijing, so I am looking forward to that.
I’m trying to kick his (Jenson’s) arse. And after that, some things to do
back in Germany, yeah, and at the end of the month we will have a big party
back in Milton Keynes, with all the team, so I’m looking forward to that. So
November is a bit the time probably to be a bit lazy, but back in December
and January obviously trying to focus on next year, on the new car. As I
said, we will have time and meetings to discuss and obviously analyse what
we can do better in the future and then we put our focus on next season.
Obviously it’s a long, long time without any testing, any driving for us, so
I reckon I will do some karting, that’s for sure, even though it’s cold.
MW: Yeah, similar to Sebastian. Next week is very busy. I’m going to Austria
tomorrow, doing some work over there for Red Bull and then also some stuff
for Renault next Thursday, so the next few weeks I’ve got some PR work which
we’ve put on the backburner during the season, so a few photo-shoots here
and there. Then I’m potentially going to drive the GP3 car, the new category
car, do a bit in that, to see how that’s going along. It’s a very exciting
championship next year which Christian (Horner) and I are involved in, so I
might do a little bit of driving in that, but not much, just to get a little
bit of press and a little bit of feeling for how it is. And then I think the
third week of November I’m going to open my leg up again and get a bit more
metal out, and then that’s the end of that problem, so it will be a few
weeks relaxing after that and then I go to Australia for Christmas, a few
barbecues on the beach and go to the cricket as well, which is 100,000
Australians at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) which is a big highlight
at the Boxing Day test match, so I’ve got a few good things to look forward
to and then in January, come back to a European winter which is always a
test, but anyway, we will do that and get ready for February.
JB: Wow, that’s a lot.
SV: Wait until you start…
JB: I have got nothing planned this winter. I’m going to the RoC (Race of
Champions) tomorrow which takes place Tuesday, Wednesday. If you’re
interested, head down to the Bird’s Nest in Beijing. The only thing is that
I am going to go and enjoy myself with the team tonight, so we will see how
I perform on Tuesday and Wednesday. But I’m looking forward to that, it’s
always good fun. And then I’m heading to Japan to spend some time there with
my girlfriend and then I will have a few more days off and then sort myself
out and start thinking about next year. It’s amazing how early it starts,
2010 comes up on you in a flash. I’ve got to sort myself out and focus on
that. I’m looking forward to the new challenge, for sure, but it can wait a
couple of weeks. Oh, I’ve got my 30th birthday in January as well. Thirty!
Imagine that, Sebastian.
SV: It’s a long way to go.
JB: Trust me, it goes by very quickly.
Q: (Chris Lines – Associated Press) Guys, you sit up there as two
representatives of the two most dominant teams this season. If we go back a
year ago, it was Ferrari and McLaren and they were nowhere in the early part
of this year. How confident are you guys that you will be able to carry this
form into next season and not pay a price for going all the way through
developing the car?
SV: Well, I think we are a team, we are professional. You might read here
and there that other teams stopped developing for this year, looking ahead
to next year, but as I said earlier on, I think the regulations aren’t
changing too much. Obviously the biggest change is no refuelling but other
than that the cars will remain similar, similar shapes. I think the people
know what they are doing back in Milton Keynes. Obviously this year was a
great chance for us and as Mark said, we were able to build quite a weapon.
So I’m very confident. I think we can only get stronger. Obviously it was
the first time that we were in that position for us, Mark, myself and the
team that we were in that position and I think we handled it quite well. We
made some mistakes here and there but that’s what happens. We are not the
only ones who made these mistakes and if you are fighting and trying to push
and trying to get the last bit out of yourself, out of the team, out of the
car, then sometimes you might step over the limit. I think it’s totally
natural to go through that progress, so we have definitely learned a lot and
the important thing is, as I’ve said before, to do it much better next year.
JB: Ferrari and McLaren are going to be competitive next season. They have
the resources, they have the expertise, they have competitive drivers. For
sure they are going to be quick. They’ve had a different approach over the
last few races. If you look at Ferrari, they’ve said that they’ve had no
development which is unusual to hear that, as there’s not much that changes
for next season. But it seems that McLaren have thrown everything at the car
and have been very competitive over the last couple of races. So going into
next year, yeah, they’re going to be quicker compared to the start of this
season but I don’t think they’re suddenly going to be stronger than Red Bull
and Brawn. I think there’s going to be a big battle at the front which is
going to be a new thing for all of us, because having four teams fighting it
out at the front, that hasn’t happened – could you just keep… ‘scuse me, I’m
just trying to talk – you might want to listen to this.
MW: We’re just talking about your wedding day, mate. We’re just trying to
clear our schedules.
JB: But with four teams at the front, eight drivers fighting out for wins, I
think that’s exciting, so, yeah.
Q: (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) What’s the date for the wedding,
Jenson?
JB: It’s my birthday, did you say? By the way, I’m looking forward to my
present, thank you very much, Bob. What did you call me before?
BMcK: The World Champion?
JB: That’s the one, thank you. I’m not getting married this year.
SV: Why not? You don’t love her?
MW: Clear up January, clear it up.
JB: I think some things need to be kept private in your life and that’s one
of them. Thank you very much. |
