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'We all take a certain risk', says Vettel

Sebastian Vettel is well aware of the risks of driving in F1 © Sutton Images

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Sebastian Vettel admitted it had been a 'horrible last two weeks' for motorsport despite claiming his second Formula One World Drivers' title in Korea.

Vettel had just completed the record achievement of becoming the youngest ever back-to-back world champion in Korea when he heard about the tragic accident of Dan Wheldon in Las Vegas. And only a week later, rising MotoGP star Marco Simoncelli was killed in an accident at Sepang.

"It has been a horrible last two weeks for motorsport," said Vettel on Thursday. "The moment I came back from Korea I heard about the accident of Dan Wheldon in America. Last week I sat on my sofa and watched the MotoGP and saw the crash of Marco. I wasn't a very close friend but I knew him and I met him this year."

Despite the shocking events of the last fortnight, Vettel admits that every driver and rider takes onboard the risks of the sport they love and that everything is being done to make Formula One safer.

"We all take a certain risk when we jump into the car or go onto the bike. We love motorsport, we love the thrill and at the same time we always hope that nothing will happen. We love what we do and we are happy to take those certain risks but it is really shocking to see how quickly things can change.

"I think we should always try to make things safer, sometimes we will get criticised for the cars being too far away, the run-offs being too big and so on but on the other hand we never want to put ourselves in the situation like all the MotoGP riders are going through now or the IndyCar series is going through now. So we will keep the fingers crossed and hope nothing will happen but it's not impossible and we know that. At the moment the only thing we can do is respect and give the families enough space and enough room and the time they need."

Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber echoed Vettel's sentiments in saying that although he is always aware of the risk, he feels safe driving a Formula One car.

"When you step into the car, it's not always in your mind but you know that you are not doing something that is without risk," said Webber. "There is always going to be an element of risk there because of the speed because you are competing against other people. Errors of judgement, an error of judgement from a mechanic or conditions mean that one day you might get hurt. That's the way it is.

"When I'm driving the car tomorrow, I'll still feel incredibly safe and I'll feel comfortable to push the car as hard as I can."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.