After winning the opening two races of the 2011 Formula 1 season, Sebastian Vettel set a very high benchmark for his performances.
The German lost out to Lewis Hamilton at the Chinese Grand Prix though and with the ‘second is nothing’ policy in mind, he has got to thinking about how he can improve during the three-week break before the Turkish Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s main man held pole position for the race and led going into the final few laps, but eventually paid the price for a two-stop strategy with Hamilton using his fresher tyres to pass him and take first place.
Referring to the tactics used in China, Vettel said: ‘There’s an important lesson to learn. Hamilton and McLaren were too strong and not in reach with our strategy.’
The current World Champion then went on to discuss how much he struggled for pace in the closing stages of the race, admitting that all things considered he was happy with 2nd place.
He continued: ‘I was struggling a lot. I had to wait to turn the car and get on the power as I did not have the tyres left. Lewis did a very good job to surprise me with his move into Turn 7.’
‘I don’t see second today as a disappointment. Second is the best we could do today.’
Vettel still leads the driver standings by 21-points after all, so he is still very much the man to beat over the next few months. If anything, the defeat to McLaren could end up being a positive thing for Red Bull if it means they are able to improve their car or strategies for future races.
It will also help Vettel if they could get his radio working for the next race. Throughout the race in Shanghai, his team were unable to hear and therefore unable to answer his variety of questions.
On this subject, he said: ‘Having no radio for the majority of the race doesn’t make it any easier.’
Being the incredible competitor he is, Vettel is of course keen to regroup for the race in Turkey in a few weeks and get back to winning ways. As he stated, coming 2nd isn’t a disaster, but he would love to reassert his dominance.
Looking forward to the next race, the 23-year-old remained focused: ‘We have to keep our feet on the ground. We have had three races, two victories and one second place.’
A brave man would bet against Vettel leading the way again in Turkey, but at least we all now know that McLaren and in particular Lewis Hamilton are going to fight him every step of the way.
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