Sebastian Vettel won his last pole position, 57th in his career, at Suzuka – it was in 2019, when he was still driving for Ferrari. Obviously the Aston Martin team is not that competitive, but today Sebastian managed to reach the final of qualifying and show the 9th fastest time.
Q: Perhaps your emotions today are similar to those you experienced after winning qualifying?
Sebastian Vettel: Yes, I think the joy is about the same, and the sensations are quite similar – if you don’t look at the scoreboard and don’t see our real result. I like Suzuka, I like this song, and here I always have a good mood. Every time in the first sector of the circle, where you have to fight the car and overcome yourself, I have a big smile on my face.
Q: After such circles, isn’t it the idea to come back here next year and participate in some kind of race?
Sebastian Vettel: It’s not that I regret the decision to end my career – no, on the contrary, I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my life – but it’s still a little sad to be racing Suzuka for the last time.
The feeling during qualifying is not the same as on Sunday, when you are driving a car with a lot of fuel and you have to save on equipment and tires. But on Saturday we’re just flying around the track, and although we’re a long way from pole position, the feeling behind the wheel is very special.
Of course I did a lot of laps on this track and I can say that the first sector is generally one of the best. You experience a unique sensation, although we lose about five tenths compared to the fastest racers on that alone.
The car generates quite a lot of downforce, but our AMR22 is just too heavy and you feel that in turn 11, for example, because you literally have to fight with it because of its weight. But on all the high-speed sections of the track the feeling is very good, because the balance is not bad and we hardly changed the settings after the last practice.
During qualifying they limited themselves to adjusting the angle of attack of the front wing – that’s all. It is a pleasure to fly these machines at high speeds.
Q: Are you sad because this is your last Saturday on this job, but there is still a whole Sunday ahead of you?
Sebastian Vettel: Yes, but I mean on Saturday we show such speeds – in the race the pace will be slower. On Sunday it will also be great to fly as it will be necessary to overcome many circles to find the right compromise between aggressiveness and the need to save rubber. In addition, the race may be accompanied by rain, so we’ll see.
Q: Maybe you want the race to be held in the rain?
Sebastian Vettel: Yes, because on our car the rear wing is quite large – maybe this will help us. However, let’s wait for further developments. The Constructors’ Championship is a tough competition, but we have nothing to lose and we want to score points.
Although, in theory, Suzuka is not the most suitable track for us, but we will try, especially since today was not bad. Maybe tomorrow everything will be fine.
Source: F1 News
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
