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Singapore GP: Post Race press conference

NEWS STORY
25/09/2011

Sebastian, no World Championship celebrations here but another pole, another victory but not by the large margin that at one stage looked likely?
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, first of all I am very, very pleased with the result. The car was fantastic all the way through. I think when we had to push we could pull away quite easily and pull a gap, which helped us. The safety car came out. It didn't really fit to our plan as we had a big gap. I think about 30 seconds and 30 laps to go but, nevertheless, I had a very good restart. I was a bit lucky there were some backmarkers between me and Jenson and I was able to get back into the rhythm straight away, pull a huge gap and I was quite happy as towards the end with the traffic it is quite busy around here. There isn't much space and if you catch the traffic on the wrong place on the circuit you lose quite some time. In the last lap I faced five cars, quite a large group, but there was plenty of room. Not that big margin when I crossed the line but I was in control when Jenson was going into the last lap. All in all fantastic result. I really love the track. I love the challenge. It is one of the longest races, I think it is the longest so great. The car was fantastic. Engine-wise everything was great. Renault, again, did a very good job so we were in a comfortable position for most of the race which is pretty handy around here as it is quite a big challenge to put the sectors together, not only in qualifying but also the race so, as I said, the pace was good and I am very pleased. For the Championship, it looks like we have another chance at the next race.

Jenson, for you a fourth podium in a row but tell us about the backmarkers, not just at the restart but also the two Williams drivers who stalled your progress as you were catching Sebastian towards the end.
Jenson Button: Yeah, I can understand it is difficult to move over here. Most people were fighting out there but a bit of respect to the cars that are lapping them. They are lapping them for a reason because they are quicker and they fighting for a higher position. There were some frustrating moments in the race. One was Kamui (Kobayashi). I sat behind him for a lap. Couldn't get past and he finally moved over and the two Williams were fighting between themselves. The thing is when it gets to the last lap and people see they are being lapped so they are pushing hard and they race each other but forget there are other cars trying to overtake. Forgetting that it was the best we could have done today. I feel that I got everything out of the car especially towards the end of the race when I was able to push on the tyres and really see what the car had. But we weren't quick enough to win today. But a good finish all the same and something we can hopefully build on for the next race.

Mark, before the race Jenson mentioned that he might have a chance off the line giving your record at the start recently and he did get past you going into the first turn. But from then on some great battles for yourself with Fernando Alonso.
Mark Webber: Yeah, unfortunately I find myself having to come back through too often this season. I can't make the starts I made last year at the moment. I need to work on those. We will look at them and definitely improve. I have just got to keep working hard as it makes it quite frustrating and it is more risky to come back through and try to regain the positions on the track particularly when the DRS isn't working. In the end probably lost a position today out of that but JB put a good last stint together so I would have been in a good battle with him if I did have track position. Seb fully deserved the victory but overall if you come here and say you have a podium, though of course you would love a win, and that is what we are all striving for. But this is a very, very challenging venue so it is nice to have the car in one piece and the guys have done a great job all weekend. For me in particular it has not been the easiest track. It is challenging for quite a few of us, but I don't seem to be super quick around here. In the end I want to thank all my guys. They have done a great job for me all weekend and the team, Renault, again 100 per cent reliability. Great job from them and well done to JB, a good second place for him.

Seb, I think there might have been a few tears on the podium. Was that for your first win here, was that a sigh of relief that two hours had finally finished or was it the emotion of another victory that was as special as the first this season.
SV: I think it was a bit of all that and I had something in my eye. As I said I really like this track especially after last year where it was a tough fight to the end with Fernando. It was all the way from start to finish shadowing him last year. I felt I could have gone a little bit quicker. It was a nice battle and I finished second so this year it was great to come back and get the job done. We all agree that this is one of the toughest challenges we face all year. It is getting quite hot inside the car. The race is quite long. The humidity makes us sweat a lot and work hard which is good so it is nice when you cross the line knowing you have done your best and achieved your optimum. I think we can be very proud of ourselves again. A fantastic race from start to finish. Smooth pit-stops and in the heat we once again kept our heads cool. A perfect day at the office I would say.

Press Conference

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