Sebastian Vettel Interview at the 2018 Canadian Grand Prix
Story: Jim Kerr
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Vettel started amateur karting at the age of 3 and made his Formula 1 debut at Indianapolis in 2007. Just a few years later, he became the youngest ever Formula 1 World Drivers Champion. Now in his third season with Scuderia Ferrari, he looks forward to chasing down the records of his childhood hero, Michael Schumacher. Jim Kerr got the chance to catch up with the champion in Montreal.
Good Morning Sebastian. Thank you for your time on a busy race weekend. To start, VICARIOUS magazine has an article on you coming up in their summer edition. I would like to show you a copy of a painting of your car by Grant Thomas after winning the Australian Grand Prix that will be part of the article.
Thank you. It looks very good!
What is your favourite race track and why?!
Suzuka, Japan. I think there are a lot of S’s, flowing corners, fast, and it is the time of year when you can really feel what the car can do. Here (Montreal), it is more stop and go - you have long straights, hard braking, chicanes, hairpins, whereas, in Suzuka, you don’t have real hairpins. All in all, because of the track, you can really feel the grip of the car and the downforce you get, not just in one corner but in a couple corners in a row.
What is the most difficult track to prepare for?
We have nowadays the ability to train on the simulator and I would say generally new tracks where you haven’t been there to prepare. Also, you don’t know what to expect in how the track feels and how to set up the car. Street tracks are very tricky. Normal racetracks you sort of know what to expect. Here (Montreal) it is a bit of a mix. Different surfaces, bumps, uneven surfaces which make it difficult to keep the car on the road.
With the F1 car power units limited to three per season down from four last year, longevity is even more critical. How do you as a driver protect the power units during a race?
Normally, we are quite greedy because we want to go as fast as possible, but you can run the engine in practice, for example, a little bit safer with a little bit less power.
Just have a feel, listen to the car, listen to what the engine is doing. I think I always feel that I am part of the car and I want to take care of my car. Don’t push it when it is unnecessary. That’s one thing, but then obviously the main job is happening behind the scenes under the cover, away from my control, such as fuel and oil together that give horsepower and durability.
Can you feel when the car isn’t quite right?
Yes, you can feel if the car is sliding or you can tell if the engine doesn’t sound right or feel right. You can feel the difference. The things we can contribute other than listening to the engineers is when it is not necessary to tear the engine down.
With the F1 limiting you to 105 kilograms of fuel for a race, you certainly don’t want to run out of fuel during a race. As a driver, do you have a sense of how much fuel you are using or are you relying on information from the team to know when you have to be more conservative in your driving style or when you can use the throttle more?
There is a number on the steering wheel (laughs).
But on different portions of the track can you control how much fuel you are using?
Yes. Then you can be more efficient or less efficient, especially when you are racing. You can be a little bit practical about when to use your fuel. Obviously, every track we go is different and the fuel consumption is different. There are some tracks where fuel consumption doesn’t matter such as Monaco because we don’t spend so much time full throttle. Nobody actually needs the full capacity of the tank, whereas in other places like here (Montreal) or Australia we need more than 105 kg of fuel to cover the race so we have to manage.
Does that number play on your mind all the time?
Yes. Maybe not the numbers for each lap, but definitely. You have a plan going into the race but plans change and then you have to adapt. You can read in your car how much is left. We have much better technology much more precise than the analog measurement in your car of how much is left, how much we are using. Yes, you can play around with it.
You are limited to five fuel formulations for the season and only two per race. Can you feel a difference in the car when Shell’s fuel formulations are changed?
It depends. Some are very close but each engine package is matched to the fuel. It’s not like we build an engine and then check which fuel works best and come up with a formula. We begin from scratch–the way we design the engine, we build the engine with Shell and their (fuel/oil) scientists and formula as one to maximize everything. Then, when you step from one package to another, then you can feel the difference.
Shell has a long history of development with Ferrari dating back to the first Ferrari in 1947. The team has development drivers and test drivers. Are you involved in the development of the car throughout the pre-season or is your time spent mostly preparing yourself for the different race courses that you run each season?
Yes. Everybody is involved in development. To make the car faster, everybody has their role. How the car feels, how the engine feels, not just power but ability, you can feel what is limiting us. Yes, along with the engineers we try to make it better. It’s as simple as that.
You ride your bicycle around the city to events. What is the best city to ride in and why do you like to ride instead of driving?
I don’t know, I haven’t been in them all. I think Montreal is very high up. It’s on the right side of the road which makes it easier. They’ve got a lot of bike paths. I think it is bike friendly.
And that is your favourite mode to get around?
Yes, I just don’t like being stuck in traffic. With the bike, there is usually no traffic. There are other bikes but never that many that you have to queue.
Thank you Sebastian. Hopefully, you won’t get stuck in traffic on the racetrack this weekend.
Sebastian Vettel went on after the interview to start from pole position and scored his 50th Formula 1 win in Sunday’s 2018 Canadian Grand Prix, taking the lead in the 2018 World Drivers Championship by one point in front of rival Lewis Hamilton.
“the way we design the engine, we build the engine with Shell and their (fuel/oil) scientists and formula as one to maximize everything.”
