Vettel flies to debut Red Bull win
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AFP
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 20, 2009 00:00
SHANGHAI - Sebastian Vettel was left grinning and calling for more rain-hit Formula One races yesterday after giving the Red Bull team its wings with a thrilling win in the Chinese Grand Prix.
The brilliant 21-year-old German came home triumphant ahead of his teammate Mark Webber of Australia in a one-two finish for the English-based outfit in treacherous conditions.
The result ended the early-season domination of the new Brawn GP team as Briton Jenson Button finished third ahead of Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello.
There were encouraging signs that the troubled McLaren outfit is starting to find its feet with Finn Heikki Kovalainen and British defending world champion Lewis Hamilton finishing fifth and sixth respectively.
But Ferrari again failed to score for the third time this season -- now its worst start to a racing year since 1981 with Felipe Massa retiring with mechanical problems and Kimi Raikkonen coming in a midfield position.
Vettel was understandably delighted at his second victory, following his breakthrough win for Toro Rosso in Italy last year, where his pole and win made him the youngest driver in Formula One history to achieve such feats.
Hard work
"Yes, we made it. Thanks for so much hard work. It's fantastic, well done and thanks to the team for a great car, just perfect. It was a dream to drive," said the ecstatic German on the team radio.
Later, he said the wet conditions were tough but, as he has shown before, they suit him.
"We had to push hard in the beginning to get away from the pack and we succeeded. There was a lot of aquaplaning. Sometimes you were just keeping the car on the circuit," said the German. "I think I had the best conditions, but it was still extremely difficult -- especially in the last corner. It's my second win, and the second in the wet. Now maybe we can have some more rain!"
With the rain pouring down from start to finish, Button said it was an achievement just to finish.
"It was basically a lake on the last corner and you couldn't brake," he said. "It was pretty crazy. Every lap, you thought you were going to throw the car off. To finish the race is an achievement and to finish on the podium is fantastic. We couldn't catch the Red Bulls, but they were extremely quick."
The result ended the early-season domination of the new Brawn GP team as Briton Jenson Button finished third ahead of Brazilian teammate Rubens Barrichello.
There were encouraging signs that the troubled McLaren outfit is starting to find its feet with Finn Heikki Kovalainen and British defending world champion Lewis Hamilton finishing fifth and sixth respectively.
But Ferrari again failed to score for the third time this season -- now its worst start to a racing year since 1981 with Felipe Massa retiring with mechanical problems and Kimi Raikkonen coming in a midfield position.
Vettel was understandably delighted at his second victory, following his breakthrough win for Toro Rosso in Italy last year, where his pole and win made him the youngest driver in Formula One history to achieve such feats.
Hard work
"Yes, we made it. Thanks for so much hard work. It's fantastic, well done and thanks to the team for a great car, just perfect. It was a dream to drive," said the ecstatic German on the team radio.
Later, he said the wet conditions were tough but, as he has shown before, they suit him.
"We had to push hard in the beginning to get away from the pack and we succeeded. There was a lot of aquaplaning. Sometimes you were just keeping the car on the circuit," said the German. "I think I had the best conditions, but it was still extremely difficult -- especially in the last corner. It's my second win, and the second in the wet. Now maybe we can have some more rain!"
With the rain pouring down from start to finish, Button said it was an achievement just to finish.
"It was basically a lake on the last corner and you couldn't brake," he said. "It was pretty crazy. Every lap, you thought you were going to throw the car off. To finish the race is an achievement and to finish on the podium is fantastic. We couldn't catch the Red Bulls, but they were extremely quick."