Podium ceremony after the Hungarian Grand Prix at Hungaroring featuring race winner Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), second placed Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) and third placed Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) interviewed by David Coulthard.
Sebastian, 46th victory in Formula One, very measured but looked like you had some issues there with the steering, we heard lots of radio transmissions saying “keep off the kerbs”. First of all, congratulations on your win and tell us about what you had to manage there…
Sebastian Vettel: I’m over the moon. I mean it was a really difficult race, maybe it didn’t look like but I had my hands full from three or four laps after the safety car. There was something wrong, I don’t know why the steering started to go sideways and it seemed to get worse. Then I stayed off the kerbs, tried to save the car. It wasn’t easy. I didn’t do a favour to Kimi who obviously could go faster. I didn’t have the pace. But then towards the end it did come back a bit. I had a couple of laps where I had a bit of a cushion and I could breathe a bit. But yeah, I really had to stay focused the whole race. I was hoping for a couple of laps to breathe but they didn’t come, so really tough. But great result, great day. Thank you for the support. There was a guy out of the chicane, every single lap he was thumbs up, thumbs up and keeping us going, so it was really great.
So you had one eye on the fans and one eye on the steering?
SV: And one eye on the steering, because it wasn’t straight.
Can you explain that? Can you explain what can give you that?
SV: I don’t know, we’ll have a look, but to be honest it doesn’t matter now, we won the race. It was a weird feeling because basically it was tilted to the left so you go down the straights and the steering isn’t straight and then in right-handers it’s sort of OK, but in left-handers you have to get used to it. After a couple of laps it’s OK but if it’s changing all the time it’s difficult because you have to further than you want and than you think in your head. Not ideal, but as I said, it doesn’t matter. A big thank you to the team, it was a great race.
Kimi, there’s huge Finnish support here, maybe a couple of words of Finnish for your fans before we got to English…
Kimi Raikkonen: Oh, I think they all understand English. Obviously great support, unfortunately I couldn’t give them the win. We had a one-two as a team, so I had a great car today, but obviously when you… I had a mistake yesterday in qualifying. I got a good start but I didn’t want to force the issue and obviously after that just kept following the 71 laps. Not ideal, obviously I want to win, but it’s great for the team.
You have been very consistent on this race track, this is your eighth podium here. Sadly, six of those have been second place. Clearly you had the speed today; it’s just impossible to overtake on this circuit…
KR: Yeah, the other guy has to do quite a big mistake or have some issue. It’s not easy to overtake and especially with team-mates you take more care. But at least they are still happy – that’s the main thing.
Valtteri, we saw a very sporting gesture from you, at the request of your team, to move over for your team-mate. You must have thought towards the end that he as not going to be able to give that place back because of all the traffic and because of Verstappen hunting you down. What are your thoughts on this great sporting gesture?
Valtteri Bottas: For sure in the end I was getting a little bit worried as the gap was increasing. I really struggled with the backmarkers today and was a little bit unlucky also with those. But really, thanks to Lewis to keep the promise and let me by in the end, because I gave him the shot to try and get past the Ferraris. It’s a shame, we had good pace in the end today but with the starting position we couldn’t finish any better. Just want to say thanks for all the support this weekend. It’s been really cool to drive here with all this support and Finnish flags.
Did you doubt at any point whether the team would make the call on Lewis given that you are in the championship battle, absolutely, but given that he is the lead driver? Did you have any moment of doubt or absolute trust in the team?
VB: Well, for sure when the gap was big I knew it could be a problem but in the end I just want to thank the team.
So, Sebastian, 14-point lead, that’s a nice way to go into the summer break?
SV: I don’t mind; it’s OK. It could be worse!
What are your plans for this break from Formula One. You’re notorious for being a hard worker, are you going to be at the factory simulator or are you really taking time out?
SV: Well we have a test here in a couple of days, but after that to be honest no big plans, I just want to enjoy the time at home. We spend so much time on the road travelling and I know you have a family as well, so you know how it is, so it’s nice just to have a couple of days at home and rest and enjoy that.
Read the full story at GRAND PRIX 247
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