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Malaysia GP: Post Qualifying press conference

NEWS STORY
09/04/2011

Sebastian, third pole in a row, but a little bit closer than it was in Australia this one.
Sebastian Vettel: Yeah, I would say so definitely. It was quite a challenging weekend until qualifying. I was happy with the car but we never really got into a rhythm, so yesterday wasn't as smooth as we hoped for. Also this morning, but we knew that we had it in the car. The main thing was to keep believing in it and in qualifying it worked out straight away, so first qualifying, second and third, was very good and, as you said, so very close in the end with the McLaren guys. So, very happy. Big compliment to the guys in the team, especially the guys with the KERS system. We got lots of criticism after the last race for not having run it all the time. It is something we were not proud of but we came here and we solved most of our problems, and I think if we did not have it today then we would not be here, both of us, so it is a great achievement and compliments to those guys. We all work hand-in-hand and if this is the reward, then we keep working, I would say, so very pleased.

For a minute we thought you were just trying to prove to people that you were right before the race and before qualifying and that McLaren had caught up a lot to Red Bull, but obviously not the case. Talk us through some of the problems that you have been having. Why was it such a struggle?
SV: Well it was not a particular problem with the car or anything wrong, nothing broke down. It was just not as smooth, so we didn't have all the laps that we wanted. A little bit of traffic and then I did mistakes. It just did not all come together as nicely and didn't allow me, and us, probably, to find that rhythm. The track around here can be very challenging in that regard. You have got a lot of corners with different lines, so it takes a little while to understand every year. In the end I am very happy that we have proven that we can do it. The gap is quite a lot smaller than it was in Australia. It just showed how quickly things can change. Next race, you never know. Now, we focus on tomorrow. A good job today, so I think we can be happy. I am happy also for the boys as it is quite a difficult race. It is very hot in the garage. The air is pretty humid and they are sweating a lot, so tonight they will get some sleep for the first time, so happy for them as well.

Lewis, almost your first pole since Canada last year. Disappointment or a lot of happiness for you and McLaren that you got much closer?
Lewis Hamilton: I don‘t think we can be disappointed. As I said going into the last race, we have done a fantastic job to even be up there with the Red Bulls, so I feel very proud of the effort the guys put in, especially in getting some new parts for this weekend and just constantly moving forward. I think we can be happy with it. I would have loved to have put (the car) into P1 but these guys still have a slight edge. Clearly, we have closed the gap a little bit or so it seems here. The lap wasn't perfect, so I will have to improve on that.

So there was more to come? But at what stage did you think pole might be yours today or did you suspect Red Bull had a little bit in hand?
LH: We always expected that they might have a little bit in hand especially going into their last run. You just never know. They usually tend to pull something out of the bag, which they did. They obviously picked up a bit of pace going into Q3 and going towards the end of Q3. I think, for my lap, we lost a little bit of time, just in the one corner, but I can't be too disappointed as you can never get it that perfect.

Mark, four drivers were going for pole right in their final lap. Someone had to miss out and sadly you missed out on the front row. Were you aware how tight it was throughout the whole of the lap?
Mark Webber: Oh, absolutely. I knew everyone was on a similar pace after the first run on the options. It was pretty straightforward for us, just try to drive as quick as we can. We can't control how tight it is. We don't say someone is three-tenths or two-tenths or whatever, you still just try to do you best. Better performance from me today compared to Melbourne and so looking forward to tomorrow.

Third might not be a bad place to start from. I seem to remember Sebastian won from third last year.
MW: Yeah, I think the grand prix tomorrow will be different to last years so it will be interesting.

Sebastian, in that respect how much different will tomorrow's race be? How much of a gap do you think you can pull out in the first stint on tyres that might not last as long as you want?
SV: Well, I think we learned quite a lot in Australia. We came here and we saw that the tyres don't last nearly as long or not even as close to how long they lasted in Australia. It is different here. It is a different track, different conditions. It is much hotter, so it is tougher for them. I think we had an idea yesterday. I think we were pretty happy with it, so we will see what we can do. Surely, as Mark said, it will be quite a different race. I expect more stops definitely than Australia, so we will see how many. I am just hoping that all the spectators don't lose the count, so we try to keep it up and hope people outside are as well.

Press Conference

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