Red Bull pace not guaranteed: Vettel

David Bodapati July 6, 2012

470 1 minute read

Silverstone (UK)

Vettel-Brit-Thurs3 5July2012 FIA pic — Sebastian Vettel after Thursday practice in Silverstone. FIA photo

, 5 July 2012: Sebastian Vettel has said that there is no guarantee that the superior pace Red Bull Racing showed at the European Grand Prix in Valencia will translate to Silverstone.

In Valencia a fortnight ago, Vettel landed pole position with a lap almost half a second quicker than anyone else, and in the race was quick enough to open a 10-second gap over the chasing pack in the first stint of the grand prix.

Vettel’s dominance ended with an alternator failure after 33 laps, but the fear for Red Bull Racing’s rivals is that the team will be even quicker at high-speed Silverstone, especially in light of the fact that it is expected to bring more updates this weekend. Vettel, though, warned against such an expectation.

“I would be very careful with that [thinking],” he said today. “We had a good race in Valencia and we seemed to be able to make a difference straight away. This is a new track, a different track and has different characteristics. We will have to confirm the feeling we had in Valencia, the pace. Also rain is on the way. It should be a challenging weekend for everybody.

“I think we did a step forward [in Valencia], we were very competitive,” he admitted. “Everything just seemed to work. We felt comfortable form the first session onwards, up to the point where we had the failure and had to stop. That can make a big difference to the whole weekend if you find an extra tenth or two. If you take those tenths away then it might look completely different again. We had a very strong weekend but we need to confirm it here.”

Vettel said, however, that he is looking forward to the British Grand Prix and said it is a circuit he enjoys.

“I won in 2009 and it was very emotional,” he said. “So hopefully we can get back to that level. The crowd here is extremely fair. Obviously they’re cheering for the British drivers, which everyone can understand, but they are very fair and they respect and appreciate if someone else has a good race. So, all in all, I’m looking forward to the weekend despite the weather forecast.”