Japanese GP press conference after qualifying

DRIVERS
1 – Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull Racing)
2 – Mark WEBBER (Red Bull Racing)
3 – Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)

TV UNILATERAL

Sebastian, your fourth consecutive pole here, you must love this place.
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it’s not bad. I’m very, very happy with today’s result, I think we had a very, very smooth qualifying session, nearly perfect, so we couldn’t really ask for more. The car felt fantastic from the start. We didn’t really have the best start to the weekend; yesterday morning I wasn’t very happy but then we seemed to get it better every time we go out, so very pleased with the result, very happy, the car feels fantastic around here and I was able to pick up a little bit overnight and it came together nicely and now obviously we hope for a very good race tomorrow.

It’s the 50^th anniversary for Suzuka and it’s a circuit that everyone seems to adore driving around. What’s the best part of the circuit?
SV: I think you have to say the first sector, up the Esses, obviously we don’t have that kind of combination in Formula One elsewhere. I think it’s unique. I think this place in general is quite special with all the fans around the track. When I was walking into the garage you can obviously see Turn One, Two, Three and the grandstands mostly and you see a lot of people. It’s just, for us, nice to see the excitement people have for Formula One and the support we get. I think they are very crazy – in a positive way – so it’s nice coming here and wonderful to drive the circuit. The rest of the track is very enjoyable: The Degners and then Spoon is very special: you always lose the car a little bit, just when you come off. The lap I had in qualifying in the end was just right in those places, so I was very happy.

Walk in the park for Sebastian Vettel

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel got his world championship defense off to the best possible start in Albert Park on Sunday evening. The German beat Lewis Hamilton’s KERS-assisted rush as they had a drag race to the first corner, and thereafter that was all she wrote. Vettel was 2.4s ahead at the end of the opening lap, and simply controlled the pace to win by 22.2s after a problem with the floor of Hamilton’s McLaren caused an off-course moment in Turn One on Lap 32 and cost him some downforce. At times the Englishman was able to match Vettel’s pace and he did a better job controlling his tyres in the first part, as both ran two-stop strategies in a race in which all the gloomy predictions about Pirelli’s tires proved completely unfounded.

Behind them, Red Bull’s Mark Webber originally ran third ahead of fast-starting Vitaly Petrov in the Renault, who benefited when McLaren’s Jenson Button kept Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso out wide going into Turn One at the start. As Webber faded after being the first to change tires, Petrov moved into the third place he maintained throughout as he became the first Russian ever to stand on the podium after an excellent race.