Vettel has no regrets about fighting with Hamilton

The young German Sebastian Vettel spoke after the last Grand Prix of the 2008 season in Brazil. The Toro Rosso driver admitted to having put pressure on Hamilton without a second thought that he could influence the result of the world drivers’ championship.

The young Toro Rosso driver, winner in Italy a few months ago, once again delivered a very good performance this season by finishing fourth in the Brazilian GP, just ahead of Hamilton.

The German was in 6th place with only a few laps to go, but under a light rain, he demonstrated his full potential. He was closely following the McLaren driver, Lewis Hamilton, putting immense pressure on him in the last two laps. Hamilton then made a mistake two laps before the end, allowing Vettel to overtake the Englishman. Virtually the world champion just a few corners earlier, Hamilton, now in 6th, had just lost the title to Massa.

The two men eventually managed to overtake Glock’s Toyota, which was struggling in the final corner, to secure the 4th and 5th final places, marking Hamilton’s crowning. Vettel then emerged as a key factor in the championship battle between the two contenders, Massa and Hamilton. He admitted in a press conference, a few minutes later, that he was never aware of such stakes being at play:

« I attacked as hard as I could in the last laps to catch up and overtake as many drivers as I could. I had no idea where I was after my pit stop… » said Sebastian Vettel.

« In the last lap, there were a lot of single-seaters… more or less slow. I didn’t know who was a lap ahead, who was in the same lap as me, I just wanted to go faster than those drivers… »

When asked if he was aware that he could change the outcome of the championship, the young German responds: « No, not at all. As I said, after the stop, I didn’t understand where I was anymore. I knew some drivers were on dry tires, so I was pushing to catch up with them. I saw that Hamilton was ahead of me and when I had the opportunity, I overtook him! »

The Toro Rosso driver, who was competing in his last race before moving to Red Bull next season, also admitted he had no qualms about overtaking Hamilton: « I didn’t know what was at stake when I overtook them, but even knowing, I would have passed him. It would have been the same if Massa had been ahead of me. »

« I was running my race, I race for the team and myself, and if I have the opportunity to gain a position, I take it. » concluded the 21-year-old driver.