Formula 1

Red Bull Celebrate ‘Fantastic Day’ In Japan

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This morning in Japan Red Bull dominated a rescheduled qualifying session, locking out the front row. This afternoon, Sebastian Vettel converted his pole position into his third victory of 2010, while Mark Webber followed him home to complete the one-two finish.

“This circuit is very special – the fans are incredible here and to get my second win in Suzuka is fantastic,” said Vettel, who also won this race from pole last season. “It was a nice Sunday; to have qualifying and the race in one day is a unique experience and to finish top in both is great.

“Thanks to the team, to those here and also back in the UK – they all work very, very hard. We had some small upgrades here and they were a step forward. Our car loves this type of circuit and I'm very happy and very proud of today's result.

“Mark was running in second and was trying to put me under pressure, but having track position helps and the race was basically about managing the car and the tyres until the first stop. It wasn't certain when the soft tyres would go off, but the timing of the pitstop was right.

“We were then behind Jenson at the start of the second stint. I wasn't pushing as I trying to control the gap while waiting for him to make his stop. It wasn't easy today, but it was a nice and controlled race.”

Despite only coming second, Mark Webber widened his lead in the drivers’ championship, and so leaves Suzuka satisfied, graciously acknowledging that his teammate was the better driver today. “Sebastian had an extra half tenth this morning and pole position is a nice thing to have on the chess board going into this race,” the Aussie explained. “Ultimately qualifying was important, but I'm happy with how I drove today – I couldn't have got a great deal more out of the car.

“I wasn't that happy with the set-up on Friday, but the guys did a good job to get it back to a place where I was happier. I pushed Sebastian in the race – we pulled away on the soft tyre in the first stint and I was comfortable on the hard tyre after my stop.

“It was a formation finish and a one-two for the team; it's a great result for us in the Constructors' Championship and a good result for me in the Drivers'. Sebastian deserved the victory today, I'm happy.”

Team principal Christian Horner was also very happy with the team’s efforts today. “It's been a fantastic day for the team with the added pressure of having to qualify this morning,” Horner said. “We secured the front row and then converted that into a one-two finish this afternoon, it was a perfect performance from the team and the drivers and it's a fantastic result.

“We had to keep an eye on Jenson Button's strategy because of him running on a different tyre at the start of the race and he started to back things up a little bit after half-distance, but at no point were we overly concerned and both drivers did a very good job of looking after their tyres and cars.

“Mark's managed to extend his Championship lead over Fernando, who Sebastian is now tied on points with, while in the Constructors', we've obviously managed to open up a healthy margin.”

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David is an occasional contributer to the site on matters related to Formula 1. You can follow him on twitter at @Dr_Bean.
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