F1: We Couldn’t Judge New Parts, Says Vettel

Formula 1

F1: We Couldn’t Judge New Parts, Says Vettel

Sebastian Vettel was 12th in the Friday morning session and third in the wet in the afternoon at Hockenheim...

Adam Cooper | http://www.speedtv.com | Posted July 20, 2012 Hockenheim (DEU)

Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel maneuvers on a wet track in German GP practice. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Sebastian Vettel admits that Friday was something of a wasted day as the rain prevented the local hero from assessing the true form of the latest incarnation of the Red Bull RB8 at Hockenheim.

Vettel was 12th in the morning session and an encouraging third in the wet in the afternoon, although in the mixed conditions times meant little.

“I think mostly I tried to get used to the conditions,” said Vettel. “It’s not impossible we have some rain tomorrow and on Sunday. The weather forecast is not looking great, so we’ll see.

“Obviously, I would have loved to have had a dry session, especially this afternoon to get a couple of runs and be able to test a couple of things on the car. If conditions are like that, changing all the time, you are between extremes and intermediates, the circuit is drying, half dry, half wet, then it’s difficult to get a proper read.

“It’s difficult on Friday if the conditions are like that. We only have one set of tires for free in intermediate conditions [which have to be used on Fridays], the extremes we have to carry them into tomorrow’s practice and potentially qualifying and the race. You obviously try to save the mileage on them, and you only have one set of intermediates for free. It’s limited the amount of work you can do just because you don’t know the kind of weather you can expect.”

As ever, Vettel was a little coy about what sort of updates he had wanted to test: “We’re always pushing and having little bits here and there, no major upgrade, I think, nothing you can see. I would have loved to have dry conditions just to see how the car works, how it feels, and that’s the only chance you get to get consistent laps and try whatever you want to test.”

Vettel also made an interesting observation about McLaren after Jenson Button was fastest in the mostly dry FP1 session.

“They looked very competitive this morning, no doubt,” Vettel said. “We couldn’t go that pace. But I think we were not entirely happy this morning. It’s a Friday, it’s difficult to draw a conclusion.

“They looked very competitive in Silverstone on Friday, as well, and their weekend wasn’t so good. I think it can turn out one way or the other tomorrow, and we have to look up to see what kind of weather we get.”

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.

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