Brazilian GP - Toro Rosso Ferrari - RaceAs Lewis Hamilton ran wide in the closing stages of the Brazilian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel powered through to what was then sixth position. It seemed at the time that the title has been decided in favour of Felipe Massa. Vettel,
quite correctly, focused on his own race and after a great drive took fourth position at the chequered flag courtesy of Timo Glock.
The Toyota driver shrugged in the wet conditions on the final lap and was powerless to stop both Vettel and Hamilton passing at the final turn. Vettel ends his season with an impressive 35 points and eighth in the championship standings.
Team-mate Sebastien Bourdais was on target for a possible points haul in the season finale until
Jarno Trulli pushed him off track dropping the Frenchman out of the points. Bourdais ends his debut season with four points, 17th in the standings. Toro Rosso Ferrari conclude the year with 39 points.
Sebastian Vettel
“It was a difficult and chaotic race and it’s great to end the season on a high with this fourth place. I didn’t make any mistakes and I feel we deserved this result, even if I was hoping for a podium. It was great to be racing against Massa, Alonso and Hamilton. Great fun!"
"Towards the end, I was concentrating on staying on the track and I didn’t know where I was in terms of position and I just tried to pass Lewis like any other guy and I succeeded. I passed Timo just at the last corner, as he was struggling on dry tyres.
Lewis was behind me at that moment, but as I wasn’t sure where I was after the final pit stop for rain tyres, I was definitely not aware that I might be influencing the world championship."
"It was hard to know who was a backmarker or not and as it got darker and darker it was even difficult to know who the cars in front of you were. The important thing is that I scored five points. It’s been a fantastic season.”
Sebastien Bourdais
“I had a fairly good start, holding my position, but after the switch to dry tyres, the car was a bit difficult to drive. Timo passed me, benefiting from a mistake I made. We caught Fisichella, but I couldn’t get a good exit out of the final turn so couldn’t pass. This allowed the others to close on me. Jarno decided to go for it, which was fine, except he out-braked himself and pushed me towards the grass and I lost six places."
"It’s the second time in a row that Jarno has upset my race. After that, I was stuck in traffic, with some graining and I was unable to attack anyone as I continued not to get the last corner right. At the end, the team gambled on heavy rain and put me on extreme wets, so I lost another position to Kubica on intermediates. Not a great weekend!”
Franz Tost
“Both drivers made a good start: Vettel was fifth, Bourdais eighth. Lap nine saw the first pit stop for Vettel, a short one to keep him ahead of Alonso, which worked well, although as he stayed out longer than us, he got us back. In the opening laps Seb drove very well, first of all pushing Massa and then keeping Alonso behind him, without making any mistakes. Towards the end he passed Hamilton and Glock in very difficult track conditions."
"Bourdais was unlucky to collide with his old friend Trulli! This cost him the chance to score another point for us. It’s a shame the season is ending because, for the last few races Scuderia Toro Rosso has shown a very strong performance and we would have liked to continue in this manner. The team did a fantastic job and ran an effective strategy today."
"I thank both drivers, well done to the entire team, both here and back in the factory and thanks also to Red Bull. We are already looking forward to the 2009 season.”
