Saturday, October 29, 2011

Sebastian Vettel, the pole man said:  “I am happy to be here. The car was fantastic. In the end, the first sector was quite tricky. It will be a long race. It is a new track. We do not know how the tires respond. We will find out exactly what tires do tomorrow. Ideally we want to finish 1-2. It is going to be an interesting race. It was not a simple qualifying.

There is a long straight on turn 3. It is good to be here. It is a great race. My first time in India and excited to race tomorrow.

The beginning of the race will be critical. They really have done a good job on this track. You do not see any problems here except a bit of dust on the ar.

I think it is very special to be pole here.

I am proud to reach records such as Fangio’s 28th record. I am not an expert in figures. But it is great to be part of a sport with so many records. I am equaling Fangio’s and I am pleased But I am motivated even without knowing the figures and statistics. Fangio reached 28 poles in 51 races – I reached 28 poles in 79 races.

We have been practicing for two days to see what we can expect. There is a lot of dust for sure. We have had some incident over the week-end. But nothing has happened yet. It is good. There has been no incident except for Massa’s. It is very easy to be misplaced by going a bit too early and hitting the bit behind the kerb which might be too high. Then we just need to keep away

It would mean a lot for me to win this Grand Prix. Many dirvers agree it is a new track and a new challenge. The question is what the motivation to be here. We are racing and we are having the GP of India for the first time. We would be happy and proud to be the one winning the GP. It would make me very proud to win this GP.

Lewis Hamilton: “ It has been a good day today for me. A pity we had the penalty. A silly mistake from myself and I pay the price. I am optimistic. My first lap was very good. Overall very happy with my position. This is as good as I could get. The track is really great. The track is not breaking up. It is really fantastic to drive. Congratulations to the people who built the track.

Through the session you put a bit more front wing. But the kerbs are good here. I think everyone has done a great job here. The track is wide. There is no particular danger.

Mark Webber. “ I thought I would be starting third, but I am starting second. It is tricky to work out the right strategy. We have to work out hard to get the best lap time oout of the car. I could have done better in the first sector. But overall good job for the team. It will be a good race tomorrow. It was an interesting session. It is a lot down to strategy. First sector is very tricky. After that I was happy in the lap. There sere some yellow flags. But I feel much happier with the car. We are at the point of the season where we can try a few things and try to improve the car. In the end, we went back to our original strategy. It is the smoothest track in the world. It is pretty quick and exciting. When people make some errors, it will be a problem for them. It is a busy and demanding second and third sector. It is not always easy.

The race will start at 3pm local time on Sunday.