Sebastian Vettel will wake up on Sunday, September 13, pull back his hotel room curtains and hope the skies are as threatening as a spurned Brazilian racer after qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix left the Red Bull star ninth on the grid.
The German will line up alongside his team-mate, two rows back from the fifth- and sixth-place Brawns of Rubens Barrichello and Jenson Button. “Rain would help,” said Vettel. “If you start somewhere in the midfield, then the rain will definitely increase your chances – in both ways, though!
“It can be very good or very bad, depending on what happens around you. It’s not set that if it rains we will blow everyone away. We would still have to do a job. But, for sure, it would help a little bit.”
Despite Monza being deluged by a heavy shower an hour after qualifying, the German’s wish is likely to go unfulfilled, however, but even with no bad weather forecast for the race, Vettel admitted it could still be possible to score good points and keep the title fight alive.
Getty Images/Red Bull Photofiles
“I don’t think it’s as bad as it looks on paper. It just wasn’t our qualifying. The times are very close to each other. There isn’t much missing.”
With the Brawns on a similar one-stop strategy to the Red Bulls, taking the fight to the series leaders will be tough, however. “It’s a long race,” Vettel insisted. “First of all, we have to manage the first corner or the first lap and then we’ll see [that] anything can happen. In the last race, Rubens started fourth and lost everything in the first lap.
“You never know what will happen. The first thing is to look after yourself. But it will be difficult – the first row is better than being ninth or 10th!
“When we get the weights, we’ll know a little bit more,” he concluded. “As I said, the car was feeling good. There was nothing wrong and we have been mainly preparing for the race all weekend, so I think we will have good pace in the race. So let’s see what happens.”
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