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Formula 1
F1: Vettel Still Cautious On Title Hopes
Sebastian Vettel leads the standings with three races left...
Sebastian Vettel is chasing a third straight World Championship. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
As the battle enters the home stretch, Sebastian Vettel continues to play down his chance of winning a third World Championship.
Vettel is 13 points ahead of Fernando Alonso and if he stays ahead this weekend could clinch the title in Austin.
“Obviously there are three races to go,” said a relaxed Vettel in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. “And it’s not a secret: every one is important, just as important as the first three, but obviously as the season closes you realize the points left are the maximum you can get. The end is near, nearer than when you start the season in Australia.
“That’s why it appears to be more important. As I said, you don’t get any more points for this race than for five races ago or 10 races ago. We have to try to therefore have the same approach we had 10 races ago.”
Vettel was keen to point out how quickly his luck could change.
“If you look back, India was a great race for us,” he said. “A couple of laps from the end we had some sparks. Obviously, it was not a problem. It doesn’t take much imagination – if something like this comes up, obviously it shows you how vulnerable you are no matter which position you are.
“If you are in the lead by a big gap, or you are somewhere in the midfield fighting for position, it doesn’t take much and you might end the race not scoring the points that you were hoping for, and then the whole picture looks different again. I think we’ve learned this year again.
“Obviously, it would be very special for us to win the championship here, but in order to do so we have to have a strong weekend, a strong performance, and score more points than the others.”
Regarding last year’s early retirement, he said: “Last year was a short race because I had the puncture in the second corner, but I think the pole was very special on the Saturday, to equal Nigel [Mansell’s] amount of poles in a season, and generally this place has been very good for us, a lot of very good memories. So I’m looking forward to getting in the car and going out tomorrow.”
Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.
Vettel is 13 points ahead of Fernando Alonso and if he stays ahead this weekend could clinch the title in Austin.
“Obviously there are three races to go,” said a relaxed Vettel in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. “And it’s not a secret: every one is important, just as important as the first three, but obviously as the season closes you realize the points left are the maximum you can get. The end is near, nearer than when you start the season in Australia.
“That’s why it appears to be more important. As I said, you don’t get any more points for this race than for five races ago or 10 races ago. We have to try to therefore have the same approach we had 10 races ago.”
Vettel was keen to point out how quickly his luck could change.
“If you look back, India was a great race for us,” he said. “A couple of laps from the end we had some sparks. Obviously, it was not a problem. It doesn’t take much imagination – if something like this comes up, obviously it shows you how vulnerable you are no matter which position you are.
“If you are in the lead by a big gap, or you are somewhere in the midfield fighting for position, it doesn’t take much and you might end the race not scoring the points that you were hoping for, and then the whole picture looks different again. I think we’ve learned this year again.
“Obviously, it would be very special for us to win the championship here, but in order to do so we have to have a strong weekend, a strong performance, and score more points than the others.”
Regarding last year’s early retirement, he said: “Last year was a short race because I had the puncture in the second corner, but I think the pole was very special on the Saturday, to equal Nigel [Mansell’s] amount of poles in a season, and generally this place has been very good for us, a lot of very good memories. So I’m looking forward to getting in the car and going out tomorrow.”
Adam Cooper notched up his 27th season as a racing journalist in 2011. He has written about F1 for SPEED.com since 2005. Follow him on Twitter.
Spanish Grand Prix
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