Interview with Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull Racing

Coming off his second Drivers World Championship in a row, back-to-back World Champion Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing now faces a somewhat different grid for 2012. As one of six World Champions on the grid in 2012, the Formula 1 season that lies ahead may be one of the toughest seasons yet for the youngster.

The cool, calm and collected racer doesn’t seem too phased though…

Sebastian, is there added pressure this year now that you are facing another five World Champions?

“I think you always have pressure. Being one of the champions on the grid is obviously a very nice feeling but I think you have to take every year as a new challenge and we all start from zero; zero points. So we are ready to fight again and it will be a very, very long season; but we are all motivated to go that way [to the Championships] again.”

And after a year [2011] of dominating the Championship, can you think about winning every race on the calendar this year?

“It would be a dream to win everywhere. You know every race in the calendar. To come back and say I have won there. I hope that I still have a long time in Formula 1. I’ll try my best to be on the top step only in those races.”

Looking back at your record, you’ve never won your home races in Hockenheim or the Nürburgring. Is there a difference for you between these two circuits?

“To try and highlight the differences between Hockenheim and Nürburgring isn’t that easy. The circuits are completely different. Nürburgring is more up and down – you get more evaluation changes. Hockenheim is a flat circuit. Obviously I have a strong link to Hockenheim because it’s close to my home where I come from. It’s only half-an-hour drive. Nürburgring is a bit more far away. Generally I like both of the tracks. The fact to have the possibility to race in your home country, to have your home GP is always special. The support you get by the fans. That makes it more special than anywhere else.”

This year Formula 1 returns to the United States of America, a country where you made your debut appearance in Formula 1 with the BMW Sauber Team…

“Indianapolis 2007 was my very first race. Obviously I have a lot of good memories, so I still remember what happened on the race and on that day and before the race. You have a very strong link. It’s the very first race. I remember that I was quite exhausted; I was very tired after the first time I raced the GP distance and it seemed very long time. Since then I’ve had a lot of races and got used to it- I feeling much better now.”

And your thoughts on returning to America?

“This year 2012 we are going to Austin and I think people are looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to it. It has been a long time we haven’t raced in America so it’s good to go back.

First of all America is a very, very big country. There a lot of things to visit, a lot of things to do, a lot of opportunities and it seems endless when you are there. We will go to Austin which is in Texas. I have never been there before. I have been to both east and west-coast but if you look at the size of the country I haven’t seen much yet. So it would be another part and bit by bit hopefully I’m able to learn a little bit more about the people, about the culture but general it’s fairly easy because you know people speak English. It’s very easy to communicate there. People are very open, friendly. So it’s a great country I think and it’s good to go racing there again.”

Moving on to the season ahead, how have you prepared for 2012?

“In terms of preparing 2012 I didn’t much differently. You always try to do better than the previous year. So obviously you make some notes and you learn along the way. I hope that I did some things better than last year that make me better in the car. Allow me to be more fit. I have more capacity once I’m sitting in the race and willing to fight for a position. So it’s not just about the preparation but also in the season how you deal with the situation you are in.”

And this year, the season starts back in Australia.

“Australia is a tough track for both the car and the driver. So it’s quite bumpy. It’s not a permanent race track so we held on a normal street. It’s quite rough and easy for the car to break down or for the driver to do a mistake. So you need everything coming together. Last year we had a very good race there. No trouble. So we hope this year the car survives. Also from my point of view I hope that I stay on track and will have a good race.”

With a long season ahead, 20 races in total, how do you stay mentally fresh throughout?

“Looking at how long the season is, you have to remain fresh the whole of the seasons. Race one; but also the last race, which isn’t easy to do. The breaks you have, the little breaks you have you need to use to get back into shape to refuel and to recharge the batteries. I’ll not tell you how I do it but I think it has worked pretty well previous years and I try to keep it up. As long as you enjoy what you do than motivation shouldn’t be a problem.”

And there have been many driver changes to the regulations this year…

“In the end the regulations might have chanced a little bit but I think I give you a stick to a certain code drive, driving code. There is no difference to last years. I think you should always respect who you are racing against and you make sure you give him enough room if you are racing him because alternatively you would like to see the other way round exactly the same way. As I said you know whatever is written on paper is one thing but how you behave on track. But as long as you are fair and the racing is fair it should be fine.”

Finally, what do you think of the way the majority of 2012 cars look?

“I think looking at the cars in 2012 you see obviously quite a big difference at the nose of the car. It doesn’t look that nice but I think people will get used to it and obviously there is a way to get around the regulations we have for this year. I don’t think it will stay like that for a long time. This year for sure but for next year’s car it will be gone and for the rest it looks similar to last year. Not that many differences; obviously more attention to details but in terms of rough look it’s the nose that stands out.”

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