- Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Red Bull
It felt like I was flying - Vettel
Sebastian Vettel said it felt like he was flying at some stages in the race as he took a completely dominant victory in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Although he started from second place, Vettel took the lead in to Turn 1 and was never headed from that point, eventually finishing over half a minute clear of his team-mate Mark Webber. Having taken his seventh victory in succession, Vettel said it was a surprise to be so much quicker than the rest of the field.
"The car was absolutely brilliant, absolutely brilliant, there's not much more to say," Vettel said. "I was flying at some stages - at least it felt like it - massive gaps, a big surprise so really thanks to the team. Thanks to Renault as well; a lot of our success is also down to them. They're doing a very, very good job and I hope that next year we'll have an engine that is as powerful and reliable as this year's."
With Vettel running long on the soft tyres early on, he said that strength was a result of Red Bull working hard to understand the tyres through the season.
"I don't know if there's a secret. I've got traction control; at least that's what they said three or four races ago! These tyres are difficult to drive, extremely sensitive. It helps when you are in free air and not so much in traffic, but somehow we got the hang of it more and more towards the end of the year by looking after them and really listening to them. So being able to extract maybe a little bit more performance than the other guys."
Vettel's parents were present in the paddock to see his victory and he dedicated his victory to them.
"It means a lot. Obviously I spent most of my time racing in front of them when I was a small kid. Now they are a little bit bigger toys and more people watching but it's very special to me that they were here this weekend. I love them very much and want to dedicate the win today to them. I think I learned a lot of good things from them and one day if I have kids I want to pass exactly these things on."
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