Formula One: Webber and Vettel play down Rivalry comments, Schumacher tips Vettel for Championship at the upcoming German GP
Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber, Timo Glock and Adrian Sutil appeared in the FIA Thursday Press Conference and shared their thoughts on the German Grand Prix and some of the important issues surrounding the drivers.
Four of these fives drivers are German and the upcoming Grand Prix means a lot to them. All have set their targets for the race on Sunday. Timo Glock wants to finish ahead of Virgin and Hispania, something the Lotus haven’t achieved so far in the season. Adrian Sutil is excited at the prospect of racing in front of his family and fans and wants to finish the race in points. Sebastian Vettel, who has had a race to forget in Britain, will settle for nothing less than a victory. He believes that there is going to be huge support for McLaren drivers but still hopes he can win his first home GP.
Michael Schumacher, the only German out of the four to win the Grand Prix, for the first time would enter the home race in a situation where he can’t challenge for the victory. However, he is hopeful of a strong points finish.
Mark Webber, who is Vettel’s biggest hurdle in the way of home win, said that for him it was just 25 points while the upcoming GP carries much more importance for Vettel. He said that nothing guarantees that a driver will win his home race, as he and Button won each other’s home GPs last season and rained on some else’s parade.
A burning issue currently is the atmosphere in the Red Bull team, which has caused much harm to the fastest team this season. Both drivers have played down the comments and said that things have been blown out of proportion. Sebastian Vettel was of the opinion that the most important thing is that the team should win, which they have been doing in the last two races. He further said that the team is focused on the next race instead of what has happened in the past.
Webber said that he uttered the comments on radio in the heat of the moment and he actually believes that the two drivers are treated equally or he wouldn’t be racing anymore with Red Bull. He is pleased that both drivers will get similar cars for German Grand Prix. Webber said that they both have same passion and same drive to win races and championship and there is nothing wrong with that. The team has improved a lot in last two years and they are now focusing on winning instead of blaming each other.
Speaking about the contrasting performance of Red Bull drivers in qualifying and races, Mark Webber said that they have been unlucky with a few failures and accidents which made them retire from race winning positions. Red Bull’s goal for Sunday race, he revealed, is to qualify on front row and disappear into the distance scoring a one-two finish.
Talking about his future, Michael Schumacher explicitly said that he will continue to race in 2011 and would stick to Mercedes GP. He said his aim was not to bide team as a driver but to win races and championship. He said winning more titles is the reason he made a comeback to the sport. Michael said that he was not extremely happy with his performance so far but realistically speaking he could not do much either. With a long absence from sport and driving a car that is not the quickest on the grid, means he can’t win races this season. However, the German is hopeful about next year and is anticipating major changes in the car which would put him in a position to win grand prix in 2011.
When asked who amongst Vettel and Webber will be the world champion, Schumacher said that it’s too close to call and it’s difficult to pick a winner especially when McLaren are strong contenders as well. However, he hoped that Vettel, being his compatriot, would win the title.
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