Belgian GP - Post-race press conference - Pt.2

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport)
Sebastian, you overtook most people into the chicane. Why was it easier to overtake there than at the end of the straight, and how do you see the situation with Michael, who all of a sudden turned into the pit lane?

Sebastian Vettel:
With Michael there was a bit of confusion, I think. He probably wasn't that keen to defend his position because he was going into the pits anyway. I thought he would block the inside and then he came on the outside, it was very very close under braking. I nearly ran into the back of his car, and then I tried to get into a better position for the start/finish straight but he kept turning right and went into the pits. I think I was, within three seconds, twice very lucky not to lose my front wing. I think there was a bit of confusion. It doesn't matter where you get Michael on the circuit, whether you're fighting for P1 or P15, he will fight like hell which is great to see - he hasn't lost it. It obviously makes it hard for you, but it's always a great challenge. It's very very close with him but always fair. I enjoyed that, but as I said, there was probably a bit of confusion.

Regarding the chicane, to be honest I think we were quite racy in terms of ratios. At some stage - especially if you had people in front of the car you were trying to overtake - you know there was a kind of stream up the Kemmel straight so it was difficult to use the benefit you probably had because you were close to the car in front. For some reason, it seemed better on the way back, it was better to attack into the chicane. You also have more of a braking zone which I think allows you to be a little bit more flexible and try something which I did for most of the people, round the outside. I think that's the reason.

Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo)
Sebastian, you are now on 140 points while Alonso is still on 164, 24 points difference, less than one victory and we still have eight races to go. Can you comment on that situation regarding the championship?

Sebastian Vettel:
Better than before. I had a look at the championship before I went on holiday. Right now I don't really care in terms of scoring and points. Of course I care for the championship and it's good to hear that it looks better. I don't know what happened in the first corner but Fernando didn't finish the race. These things happen. We have to look after ourselves. I'm not bothered in terms of points and gaps at the moment. There are a lot of races ahead and... bloody hell, if you saw the first corner, you can see how quickly things can change. That's racing. Next week we go to Monza. It's nice if you qualify on pole, I did that last year so you're the first one to get into the chicane. If you're a little bit further back it can be quite tight, so you always have that risk. The races are very long and even if you're a little bit further back you can still come back so we will see what happens.

Q: (Oana Popoiu - F1Zone.net)
Kimi, for the first time you failed to win a Belgian race that you have finished. How does that feel and do you think that double DRS would have helped you to gain a better position today?

Kimi Raikkonen:
Well, we couldn't use it because Friday was such bad weather, but it's better third than not to finish, so OK, we didn't win but we didn't have the speed today so we didn't deserve to win either. In the last three races we had the speed in races where you cannot overtake and here we just didn't have the speed. I will take third place, I'm pretty happy to finish on the podium given how difficult the car was handling and how tricky it was throughout the whole race.

Q: (Sven Haidinger - Sport Woche)
Sebastian, how did it feel to make almost all the overtaking moves into the chicane where you had the crash with Jenson some years ago? Was it good for your morale?

Sebastian Vettel:
It was clear that it was Jenson's fault a couple of years ago! I didn't crash today, no matter who I passed. It was fun.

Jenson Button:
Don't care, I won anyway.

Sebastian Vettel:
I fucked up a couple of years ago when I pushed him out of the race which was not nice, so I learned my lesson. It was very tight but I knew I had to get past. I was somewhere, sitting in 12th, tenth position in the beginning of the race and obviously the target was to have a chat to you at the end of it, so I knew I had a bit on. I tried everything and most of the time it seemed to work so I was quite happy with that and it was good fun.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport)
Jenson, next week we are in Monza. Do you think we're going to see McLaren in similarly good shape? You're coming back, you're still a long way behind but this was the win that you absolutely needed, with Fernando scoring no points.

Jenson Button:
Yeah, as I said before the race, it's a massive long shot to win the title but today proves that you can claw back 25 points very very quickly. A great day for me, but still 63 points (behind). Anything is possible. Monza is a circuit like this in a way, so yeah, there's a good possibility that we will have good pace there. Whether we will be as competitive as we were here we still have to wait and see. The temperatures will be different - it is a little bit different in terms of downforce level so we will see. This is a great weekend for the team - for me anyway, our side of the garage so yeah, it's a good 25 points and if we can keep fighting for victories like this there's so many people in the championship that still have the possibility to win, there's still a small chance that I can really fight for that championship but going to Monza I don't think about the championship, I think - as we all will say - we go there to do the best job we can and to bring back home the most points that we can. It's a tough race for anyone that's not in a Ferrari but it's a great atmosphere there and it's one of the best races on the calendar.

Q: (Rodrigo Franca - VIP Magazine)
Jenson, speaking of that, do you think that this victory shows that McLaren has improved a lot after the five week break, or is it just a different, unique Grand Prix because you had the accident in the first turn and no activity on Friday because of the rain?

Jenson Button:
We've had a very up and down season. I'm not talking about me personally but as a team. We had such a strong start to the year and then a pretty weak part to the season. Then Hockenheim was a good race with second then with the win for Lewis in Hungary, and also the win in Canada. We've had some very very good races and it seems the last three have been very strong for us. It's great to see, because here is very different to the last two races. We were running a different... well, I'm running a different wing package in the last two races and it's good to see that they both work.

Q: (Heikki Kulta - Turun Sanomat)
Kimi, the lack of power here, does it worry you just before going to Monza where you need even more power?

Kimi Raikkonen:
I don't know if we were lacking any power. That's what people always say but we don't know what we have. We just didn't have the speed today and hopefully with a bit more warm weather and layout of the circuit might make a difference. I don't expect just to be suddenly in the front, be up there easily but we've been up there more or less at every circuit and giving ourselves a good chance and this was one of the most difficult races, for sure. Hopefully it will go back to what it's been in previous races for Monza. We'll just have to wait and see.

Q: (Mike Doodson - Honorary)
Sebastian, you used some very diplomatic words about the fight with Michael. The word you used was confusing. After 300 Grands Prix and about 20 of them here, you would have thought that there would be no room for confusion. Would you like to use some of your stronger language about that behaviour?

Sebastian Vettel:
I think the confusion comes from the way that... it's not anybody's fault, it's the way the track is designed with the pit entry... if you decide to pit then you have to go right, so you can't blame him if that was always his idea. As I said, I probably misunderstood, initially, as in I thought he would cover the inside under braking. I went on the outside and there was hardly any room, so he probably didn't expect me there or didn't see me. I don't know, I need to talk to him. As I touched on there, after turn 18, the first right hander, back to the left, I was probably in a better place to get good acceleration out of the last corner but he wanted to pit so what do you do?

Q: (Paolo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport)
Regarding this moment, he's going to speak to the stewards and probably you as well. Do you expect that there might be a punishment for his behaviour?

Sebastian Vettel:
You asked whether Michael deserves a penalty? I don't think so. I think I will talk to him. I don't think we need penalties all the time. It's probably easier for us to judge from the inside of the car than for the stewards. As I said, I think the problem, in a way, comes because the pit entry is on the right, the corner goes to the left... It's nobody's fault, it's not Spa or the circuit to blame. As I said, it's not Michael to blame. I will talk to him and that's it. I think that's the way we should handle this kind of situation and vice versa. We got away with it, nothing happened but even if we crashed, it would have meant the end for both our races. I think that's the approach I would have. When I crashed into Jenson, fortunately he had already left for the airport but I gave him a call and apologised. I think that's part of the sport. In the end, I think you should treat people the way you expect people to treat you.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport)
To all three of you, looking at the start with Grosjean who caused another accident, it's not the first time that that has happened this year. Are you going to talk to him also or are you expecting the stewards to be harsh on him for the next race?

Jenson Button:
I will leave this one for Kimi. I didn't see it.

Kimi Raikkonen:
I don't want to talk about it because I didn't see the whole thing. Somebody can say it's this one guy's fault and another guy may have a different opinion. Until I see the whole thing I have nothing to say. It's not our work or job to tell somebody what to do and what not to do. That's why we have stewards. We will see what happens.

Q: (Sven Haidinger - Sport Woche)
Jenson, how do you explain that you were struggling big time in the first half of the season and now suddenly there seems some kind of dominance, or this weekend you're absolutely on top of your game? What happened?

Jenson Button:
Yeah, very good holiday. Maybe we should have five weeks between every race? I'm not looking forward to Monza! Many things. The start of the season was good for me - this could be long! - the start of the season was good for me, I obviously won the first race. In the first three or four races the pace was very good and then I had a period of about four races that weren't so good but for different reasons. We did try something with the set-up to try and help the tyre temperature issues that we were having in our team. I tried it on my side and it took us a couple of races to realise that data wasn't correct and we were probably damaging the tyres more than helping them. At certain times I've been unlucky, especially at Silverstone which was disappointing because it's my home Grand Prix. In Valencia, again the pace was good but it didn't go my way and from then on, I think the pace has been reasonably good. I'm much happier with the car in the last few races. I feel that I can work with it. Before, it was so inconsistent corner to corner, not just lap to lap. Corner to corner the car felt so different. I wouldn't say it's just our car, it's probably everyone's car, with the way the tyres are working but for me, that was more of a struggle than for Lewis and maybe some others. It's definitely a weakness of mine, but something I definitely worked on. This weekend proves that I can get the best out of the car when I like the balance.

Q: (Oana Popoiu - F1Zone.net)
Sebastian, did you think you would be on the podium today after starting tenth?

Sebastian Vettel:
It's difficult to know before the race, but I was quite confident we have a strong pace. As I touched on, the car was very good on Friday and Saturday morning and not on Saturday afternoon, but I was reasonably confident and knew that everything is possible here, because you can overtake, probably better than Hungary. I was looking forward to finishing on the podium.