• German Grand Prix

GPDA letter wasn't a threat - Vettel

ESPN Staff
July 5, 2013 « Rosberg eyeing tyre advantage after FP2 | New tyre working well for Red Bull - Webber »
Sebastian Vettel: "Fortunately nothing happened today and the tyres worked fine" © Sutton Images
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Sebastian Vettel insists the Grand Prix Drivers' Association's (GPDA) statement saying they would not take part in the German Grand Prix if problems persisted with the tyres was not a threat.

On Thursday night the GPDA issued a statement saying "if similar problems [to Silverstone] should manifest themselves during the German GP, we shall immediately withdraw from the event, as this avoidable problem with the tyres endangers again the lives of drivers, marshals and fans". But Vettel, a director of the GPDA, underlined that the statement was not meant as a threat to Pirelli.

"It was not a threat," he said. "You must have got it wrong because we expressed that we trust Pirelli. But we also expressed that should there be an incident we would think about something like that. Fortunately nothing happened today and the tyres worked fine.

"We didn't say that we won't race, we said that first of all we trust that the steps that Pirelli made are working and today I think they were, despite higher tyre wear - especially on the soft tyre. So we came together but the point was not to threaten."

Vettel was fastest during Friday practice after improving dramatically in the second session.

"Mercedes was bloody quick this morning, we couldn't have done that," he said. "This morning I wasn't entirely happy with the car and I think in the afternoon I was in better shape. My long runs were determined by traffic but I was quite happy with what we had in the afternoon."

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