Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel shrugs off crash at Suzuka as a minor blip – Formula 1 news
Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel has shrugged off the crash in the first Free Practice session of the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka as a minor blip.
The first practice session for the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka saw Sebastian Vettel crash in the closing seconds. However, Vettel himself has termed the crash as a minor mistake and believes that it will not pose a major impact on his overall standing.
The Red Bull driver was a bit wide angling into Degner one at Suzuka and was not able to get back on track as his car moved on to the gravel where he was unable to control his RB7 and hit the tyre wall. Damages included a broken front wing and some minor
fender bend, but his car had to be taken back to the pits on a flatbed truck.
The Suzuka circuit is the one where even a minor mistake can be lethal. Vettel also mentioned how the Pirelli tyres are making it a little more difficult than he is used to.
“I think it was not really a big mistake,” Vettel said. “Mistakes around here can be quite costly. I went off and tried to come back, tried to slow the car down as much as possible, but didn't make it and hot the wall slightly. Not a big impact, but obviously
some damage to the car.”
“It was not perfect, and it did affect our run plan a little bit, but we had a solid afternoon. It's pretty tricky this year with the tyres; I think the cars generally are much more alive,” the German added.
Vettel confessed that his mind was more focused on the championship rather than the race weekend, and the crash has renewed his focus back on the race weekend.
The German felt that their 2010 cars were a bit quicker at 130-R, and it has not been easy as it used to be. He said the Drag Reduction System wing had quite a noteworthy impact on their speed at the circuit.
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