Vettel and Hamilton are wary of the Lotuses and the Ferraris
Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton believe it is hard to predict the outcome of the race and admit that the Lotus drivers will have their attention, especially as the temperatures are expected to be very high. The two world champions also do not rule out the Ferraris, which might adopt an alternate strategy following their poor qualifying performance.
As they start from the front row this afternoon for the 2012 European Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton stated during the post-qualifying conference that they must keep an eye on the Lotus cars and not dismiss the Ferraris, which, although eliminated in Q2, have shown good pace throughout the weekend and will be free to start on the tires of their choice.
Thus, the reigning double world champion believes that the outcome of the race is difficult to predict: I think it’s probably easier to guess the outcome of the football match [editor’s note: the Euro quarter-final between France and Spain] than the result of the race. I think it’s going to be difficult. It will be hot, even hotter than in qualifying. So yes, there will obviously be a lot of cars to watch for the race. I think Ferrari has been very competitive. Williams was fast yesterday during their long runs. Lotus? I think they proved in Bahrain, the first time we had high temperatures, that they were very good.
His neighbor on the starting grid and therefore in the press conference shares the Red Bull driver’s analysis: « I think that looking at the grid, due to the high temperatures, the Lotus cars seem extremely competitive. I think they will be the ones to watch tomorrow. I’m sure the Ferraris will be very fast on long stints as well. Who knows what might happen, we just have to be careful with the tires in these tricky conditions, » says Lewis Hamilton.
