Vettel surprised with own qualifying speed
Sebastian Vettel secured another pole position for Red Bull Racing, surprising himself with the eventual time on the boards. Mark Webber was a bit less happy but will start start from 4th on the grid for the Brazilian GP.
Sebastian Vettel, 1st: “It was a surprise to get that time today. I was happy after Q3, it took a long time for us to get out as there was a lot of rain at the end of Q2. There was too much water on track, which is a shame for the people in the grandstands, but if there’s too much risk of aquaplaning, it’s better to wait. We then got out and I was surprised by how much the water had cleared. I went straight onto intermediates and was able to get a very good lap in straight away. I tried to beat that and got close, but it wasn’t enough. I was very happy to hear I got pole, I even mixed up Spanish and Portuguese on the radio! Hopefully we get a good chance tomorrow. We only had little practice in these conditions, but we still got the car where we wanted it, so I’m very happy.”
Mark Webber, 4th: “We are where we deserved to be I think, as I didn’t feel that quick in qualifying. The car felt slow and I was struggling for grip. It was tricky for all of us, but we’re on the second row and we can still do something from there. It’s tricky to get it all together in those conditions, I wasn’t too comfortable in Q1 and Q2 on the intermediate tyres, but that’s the way it goes. There’s not much more to add really than it was tricky, it’s easier to be a lot further back in those conditions and we can still do something from fourth, so let’s see tomorrow.”
Christian Horner, Team Principal: “A very difficult three qualifying sessions with changeable weather. It was a matter of navigating your way through the first two sessions to get into Q3, which then started off very wet. Once they went out, both drivers elected to change to intermediates tyres very early, which gave them three laps each. Sebastian produced a stunning lap on his first, to claim his ninth pole of the year by an impressive margin. Mark backed that up in his final Formula One qualifying session to start on the second row of the grid to endorse two very strong starting positions for the last race of the year. It’s incredible to think that Mark will be heading out for his final Formula One race tomorrow. He has been with us for many years and his career has spanned 214 race starts, which will become 215 tomorrow. He’s already achieved nine wins, 41 podiums and 13 pole positions in Formula One; he’s a tough competitor and I’ve no doubt he will be looking to add to his impressive win tally tomorrow.”
Thierry Salvi, Renault engine support: “It was a hard exercise with the wet conditions today. Tuning the car to be able to extract the most of the wet tyres was again a challenge. I think the team managed the qualy timing in a very good way and was able to do a lot of laps in all sessions. Seb showed again how comfortable he is driving the car, even with heavy rain. Let’s see how things go tomorrow. It’s the last race for the RS27 so it would be good to end it on a high if we can.
