Sebastian Vettel played up his potential title rivals, discussed how he earned respect and dismissed a suggestion he was at all responsible for Mark Webber’s departure from Red Bull, in a wide-ranging interview with Formula One’s official website.
Vettel’s march to a fourth consecutive World Championship in his Red Bull-Renault seems likely based on the car’s overall balance this year. But, as Hungary marks only the halfway point in the 2013 season, the German acknowledges it’s far from over.
“Honestly, I am not thinking about the championship and the title too much,” he said. “If you look back to last year, or 2010 – 2011 was a bit of an exception – it was going down to the wire. So never feel too comfortable where you are – it might be gone fast.”
As ever he expects Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen to push him the rest of the way. Meanwhile he says the new tire construction is likely to jumble the field even more – although that didn’t appear evident on Friday as he led a Red Bull 1-2 over Webber in both practice sessions.
Asked about the respect level he feels toward him, and despite some of the controversies that have bubbled up in his career, Vettel did say he knows it exists.
“From my personal perception I can say that I’ve always felt respected by all the others – from the very beginning, since my first proper year with Toro Rosso when I was right on the edge because you have to fight for your place among the drivers to have a say,” he said. “After that season I felt very respected by everybody. Of course, when I started Fernando was at the top, as were Kimi and Lewis. But things have changed since those days when I had to fight for my place.”
He didn’t let on about his teammate next year, and also dismissed the question when asked if he felt any responsibility for Webber’s departure.
“No, and to believe that would be very childish,” he explained. “He is the master of his own fate and he had the opportunity to remain with us – or somebody else. I don’t know where else his options could have been. Every driver seeks these things out for himself. The picture that people have had for some years about Mark’s situation in the team is very wrong. I know that, so I don’t think that I had any influence on his decision.”