Sebastian Vettel says his tyres were going off towards the end of Spanish Grand Prix – Formula 1
Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel has claimed that it felt as if his tyres were going off near the end of the Spanish Grand Prix and that it was a very difficult race for him.
Vettel recently scored his fourth victory in just five races in the 2011 Formula 1 season after a long fought battle with Lewis Hamilton in the last 16 laps of the Spanish Grand Prix.
“I knew that it would be very close and in the last few laps I was feeling a bit like China where I felt my tyres going away from me. I was just praying the same thing was happening to Lewis because he was catching up and they seemed to be so much quicker
in the last sector and the DRS zone,” he said.
The reigning world champion crossed just 6 tenths of a second ahead of the 2008 Formula 1 world champion as both of the drivers had a very close battle. It was mainly because the Red Bull was faster on the corners while McLaren was faster on the long pit
straight because of a noticeable Drag Reduction System and Kinetic Energy Recovery System advantage.
“At the start of the pit straight he was quite a long way away and then at the end of the straight you'd look in the mirror and he was there or thereabouts. So you don't know if you should defend or not,” said Vettel.
He added that his team must fix its KERS as the device was not working near the end of the race as a result of which Hamilton took the advantage vitally and gained some ground which could have been defended easily.
As a result of this victory, Vettel is now 41 points ahead of his closest rival Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings as the reigning world champion is comfortably leading the standings with 118 points after scoring 4 victories and a second place finish
in just 5 races.
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