MALAYSIA GRAND PRIX
KUALA LUMPUR
SUNDAY DRIVER QUOTES
24 MARCH 2013
Infiniti Red Bull Racing
Sebastian Vettel
“I messed up today. I would love to come up with a nice excuse as to why I did it, but I can’t. I can
understand Mark’s frustration and the team not being happy with what I did today; I owe an explanation
to him and the whole team. I will try to explain to them later. We talk about this situation happening
many times and what we will do if and when it happens and normally it doesn’t, but today it did and I
should have translated the call into action. I got the call and I ignored it. Mark and I are used to fighting
each other when we’re close, but with the tyres how they are now, and not knowing how long they will
last, it was an extremely big risk to ignore the call to stay second. We could have ended up finishing
eighth or ninth after destroying the tyres in those two laps; I put myself above a team decision, which
was wrong. I didn’t mean to and I apologise. I’m not happy I’ve won, I made a mistake and if I could
undo it I would. It’s not easy right now and I owe apologies to Mark and the team.”
Mark Webber
“I think Sebastian has respect for me and I have respect for him, but the situation today was not
handled well. It’s hard to put your finger on it all now after the race; when we’re racing on the limit and
pushing as hard as we can, then it’s the worst situation for a team. I am sure they are bricking
themselves and know that things can go wrong. There’s a bit of history to this as well; my mind in the
last 15 laps was thinking about a lot of things, but I was happy with the way I drove. I tried to isolate
what happened at the end and we got something out of it today, but of course I’m not satisfied with the
result. This puts heat on a few people and unfortunately there’s no rewind button. I know people want
raw emotion from us after these situations and it’s there, but we need to remain cool. There’s three
weeks until the next race, so time for us to work on things.”
Scuderia Ferrari
Fernando Alonso
“Today, unfortunately, we were very unlucky. After making a good start, I touched with Vettel at the
second corner: it was a surprise to find him there, almost stopped and I don’t know what speed he was
doing. Despite the fact the car was damaged, it didn’t seem to be too bad and, together with the team,
we decided to keep going, because if we’d stopped immediately and then again on lap 3 or 4 to fit dry
tyres, we would have dropped too far back and definitely lost the chance to finish up the front. It’s easy
to criticise this decision, but at the time it seemed like the right one. It was certainly a shame, because
here we could have fought with the Red Bulls, but circumstances didn’t help and apart from the wisdom
of the decisions we took, bad luck really played its part, when you think how many off-track excursions
there were in Australia without any consequence and even here when the cars first went out on track.
Now we are already focusing on the coming races in China and Bahrain, where we hope to do better
than last year, so that we arrive in Europe with as many points as possible.”
Felipe Massa
“Today’s race was really complicated, because starting with a new set of intermediates on a track
that was very damp at some points and completely dry at others, prevented me from having a good
pace and I lost ground to many other drivers on the first lap. Maybe bringing forward the first stop to
fit dry tyres was a slightly risky choice, because the track was still damp and this cost me time. Then
on the dry track, the car improved, the tyre degradation wasn’t excessive and I managed to settle
into a good pace, but at that point, any hope of finishing on the podium had vanished. I can’t say I’m
satisfied with this result, but given all the difficulties I had at the start of the race, I am happy to bring
home a good points haul”.
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
Sergio Perez
“This afternoon my engineers sorted out a very good race strategy that enabled me to pass the cars
immediately in front of me early on – so thank you and well done for that, guys. Unfortunately, towards
the end of the race, my tyres began to degrade a bit too much, especially my front left, and we
therefore felt it would be too risky to try to drive to the finish on that set. Consequently, we had no real
option other than to make an extra pitstop, which caused me to lose position. I still ended up ninth,
which is two places better than I finished in Melbourne last weekend, so I think it’s fair to say that we
can see that progress is being made. In Shanghai in two weeks’ time let’s hope that that upward trend
continues.”
Jenson Button
“We drove a good race today. Strategy-wise, we did everything right. We pitted on the correct laps and
looked after the tyres exactly as we should have done. We’d have finished fifth but for the problem in
the pitstop – maybe we’d even have been in the battle for third and fourth. It’s very disappointing that
we weren’t able to demonstrate that, of course. Even at the end we had a chance of scoring a point, but
unfortunately I was struggling with my front left [tyre] by that stage. It kept locking up, and it was
producing such a bad vibration that I think the guys were worried that it might damage the front left
suspension if I carried on. However, as I say, apart from the pitstop problem, I think we did a pretty
good job. We’ve made improvements over the past week, and the result of those improvements was
that we were more competitive here in Malaysia than we were in Australia last weekend, so there are
definitely positives that we can take away with us. Hopefully, in China in two weeks’ time, we can
continue that steady improvement and score a few more points.”
Lotus F1 Team
Kimi Räikkönen
“Although the car felt very good on Friday, yesterday and today have been pretty difficult. Since
Saturday morning it has not been behaving as we expected for some reason, especially in the wet
where we really struggled for grip. It was a tough race and I lost part of my front wing at the start which
didn’t help, but at least we scored a few points which is better than coming away with nothing. If we can
get the car back to how it was in Australia then I’m sure we’ll be at the front again.”
Romain Grosjean
“I think we can be quite happy with the result today. It was a tough race, starting wet and finishing dry,
but that’s what you expect in Malaysia. I spent a lot of time stuck behind Felipe [Massa] in the middle
phase of the race and I’m sure if I could have passed him earlier then I would have stayed ahead, but
by the end my tyres were finished so it was best just to let him through. It’s not the result we would
have wanted at the beginning of the weekend, but at the end of the day it’s more points for the team
and we’ll try to come back stronger in Shanghai.”
Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team
Lewis Hamilton
“That was a fantastic job by the team today. They worked so hard over the winter and to achieve a
podium at the second race of the season is a nice reward, particularly here in Malaysia at one of our
home races. I have to say big congratulations to Nico. He drove a smarter and more controlled race
than me this afternoon and deserved to finish where I did. The team made the call for us to hold
positions and we both respected that. The race was tough, we were fighting hard with Red Bull and
went aggressive on our fuel strategy but they were just too good today. Third and fourth places is still
a great result for us however and just increases our motivation to keep pushing and close that gap.”
Nico Rosberg
“It was a great day for us as a team and we can be very happy of our performance here this
weekend. It was a good feeling to be competitive and to be able to set fastest lap times during the
race. Thanks to all of you at the team for all the hard work, results like these are very well deserved.
Of course, it was disappointing for me having to hold position but I understand the team’s decision to
safeguard our positions and to make sure that both cars got to the end with a strong team finish,
especially in light of the tough times behind us. There are a lot of races to go and our performance
today makes me look forward to fighting for more podium finishes in the future.”
Sauber F1 Team
Nico Hülkenberg
“I feel quite well rewarded going home with four points after my first race of the season in a new team
and with a new car. I am quite happy with how it went, especially at the start of the race when we were
quite quick on the intermediates. But then I was stuck in traffic and couldn’t find my way past other
drivers. I think eighth was well deserved, considering I had to fight and push a lot today. I think the
potential is there, and now we have to work on a few details.”
Esteban Gutiérrez
“P12 is an ok result, but Ideally we would have liked to finish in the points. At the end of the race we lost
time because we stayed on the same set of tyres for too long. We tried to change the strategy and I did
my best. That was all we could do at that stage. Overall the weekend is a step forward and we need to
keep working and put everything together to achieve points.”
Sahara Force India Formula 1 Team
Adrian Sutil
“An early end to a race that promised so much for us. Both cars had the same problem with the wheel
nuts and it cost us a lot of time in the pits. We’re not sure exactly what happened yet so the team
stopped the cars to make sure we understand the issue. It’s a shame that this happened here because
we had a very quick car today and I felt very comfortable as the track dried out. We have to stay
positive, keep our heads up and remember that there are plenty of races left where we can make up for
the disappointment of today.”
Paul Di Resta
“It’s frustrating to come away with nothing given how competitive we have looked all weekend. We saw
an issue at Adrian’s first pit stop when I was sat behind him, which cost me about 15 seconds, and then
I had the same issue with the wheel nut at my second pit stop. As a precaution the team chose to retire
the car. The good news is that we have the performance in the car, but this is definitely a missed
opportunity because we had the potential to score a lot of points today. We will go away, take this on
the chin, and come back fighting in China.”
Williams F1 Team
Valtteri Bottas
“I had a good start but then I drove off the dry line racing van der Garde and ran wide dropping to the
back of the field. Once the track started to dry I was able to start overtaking a few cars and I had a
good, clean race. The team did a great job with the strategy and with a few more laps I could have
started attacking for a championship point. We maximised what we had today but I trust in the team
that we can now continue working together to improve.”
Pastor Maldonado
“The intermediate tyres made the start of the race very difficult as it was very slippery, particularly in
the first sector. We had a good strategy to pit earlier in the race and opt for the dry tyres. I made a
small mistake on braking into Turn 11 which forced me to run wide and damage the front wing
slightly. After a new set of tyres, the pace in the second stint was good, but unfortunately my race
ended early after a KERS problem forced us to retire the car. We will now work hard to prepare as
best we can for the next two flyaway races.”
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Jean-Éric Vergne
“It’s good to finish in the points, but it’s a shame that a mistake in the pits cost us so much, as I could
have done something better. So, overall I feel rather frustrated. But I’ll take the point gladly. After these
first two races, we now have a short break before we go racing again and we must use that time to take
a close look at how we performed and where we can do better, because there is certainly a lot of room
for improvement, as both these two races have been missed opportunities. On the positive side, again
today, once we got over our problems I had a good race pace and managed to make up a lot of
places.”
Daniel Ricciardo
“I compromised my race even before the start when the conditions were very slippery, aquaplaning off
at Turn 3. I managed to keep going, but I went across the gravel quite fast and damaged the floor. That
probably played a part in my problem at the end. I got a reasonable start and made up a few places
and was pretty pleased with the first couple of laps. But I did not have the pace to keep the Lotuses
behind me and stay in the top ten, even though the switch to dry tyres was well timed. Like I said, I
think the damage on that opening lap affected my overall performance all race long.”
Caterham F1 Team
Charles Pic
“Off the line I had a great start and was up with Giedo for the first few laps while the track was wet
enough for the inters. The team called me in to change onto the medium tyres for the first stint in the
dry but as I was coming in to the box I saw Vergne being released right in front of me and I couldn’t
avoid him as I was turning in and there was nothing I could do to avoid their mistake. The guys did a
brilliant job to change the nose and the tyres and I was out again after losing about 25 seconds –
that’s the sort of thing the pitcrew train for and it paid off in that first stop. It’s such a shame that
incident happened as we could definitely have finished better if it hadn’t happened. It may have cost
us a place and while that’s frustrating it’s also positive to see how well everyone reacted and to see
that we didn’t stop pushing, on the pitwall or in the garage. We stopped another three times after
that, going onto the hard compounds for two stints and the mediums for the last thirteen laps and the
car felt pretty good throughout the whole race. I was able to push right to the flag and without the
pitlane issue I’m sure the final result would look different.”
Giedo van der Garde
“I had a really good start, really strong and the car felt great on the inters for the first stint. Just when
the conditions were going from wet to dry I heard over the radio that I had a front left puncture but it
was exactly at the time we were coming in to switch to the dry tyres so it only cost me a little bit of
time. I came back out on the mediums and was running well in 17th with really good balance. From
there the race was ok. The rain that had been forecast didn’t come so we didn’t have another chance
to show what we can do on the inters and that’s a shame as I’m definitely quick on those tyres, but
the car felt much better on both the medium and the hard compounds we put on in the second and
third stops than it had yesterday. I didn’t have the same oversteer problems I had in FP3 or qualifying
but we still have work to do to reduce oversteer on entry into the corners and we’ll look at that again
in China. We’re also going to work on improving our setup options for qualifying, maximising every
run in the practice sessions to help us get the most out of the car on Saturday afternoons and that
will definitely help us put in a stronger showing in quali. I also want to say what a good job the boys
did in the stops. It was pretty tight with Chilton each time but I stayed ahead of him after good work
on the pitwall and really strong work from the pitcrew. When we finished I thanked them on the radio,
and after the race Tony Fernandes told the whole team how proud he was of the work he’d seen
today in the stops. He’s right – the boys are pushing hard and it’s good to see the efforts we’re
making in the car are the same across the whole team.”
Marussia F1 Team
Jules Bianchi
“Obviously I’m delighted to finish 13th today, after 15th in my first race last weekend. I hope this is a
trend we can continue! It was not an easy day though as we made life more difficult with a not so good
start and opening lap and this really hurt the first part of my race. The lap time was really coming
towards the end of the first stint but I was stuck behind the Caterham and unable to do much with it.
After 18 laps or so I was able to get back into position and from then on I was very happy with my
progress. It was nice to have held off Maldonado and to maintain the gap for so long. This shows we
have the car to fight with them in the future. There are some things to learn from and improve after
today and the weekend generally, but we have also made more progress already since Melbourne and
we need to keep pushing. My thanks to the Team for a lot of hard work and more to come between now
and China.”
Max Chilton
“I’m slightly disappointed with today because it seemed so many things were against us. First, the start
didn’t work well and I lost a lot of time on the opening lap. That setback and being stuck behind the
Caterhams really defined my race, which is tough to take because you know instinctively that the blue
flag period is going to come much sooner in the race. The car performance is there and so is my pace,
but there’s some work to do to bring all of that together and maximise every part of the race, including
how we manage the blue flag phase. I’m sure that focus will ensure we can come back stronger in
China. A good job by the Team this weekend as it has not been an easy time.”
