Formula One news

Vettel thrilled with victory

Sebastian Vettel was euphoric to have taken victory in Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix, leading comfortably from pole position from team-mate Mark Webber, to lead home an historic Red Bull 1-2 result. It was the team's first victory since entering F1 in 2005, and Vettel's second after triumphing for Toro Rosso in Italy last season.

"I am extremely happy," Vettel said after the race. "It's the second time now that I've won a Grand Prix in the wet. The car was fantastic, it is definitely necessary to mention that the team did a really, really good job in preparing the car. We were struggling a bit with reliability, but we fixed it overnight. That speaks of the quality of our team; everybody was trying to fix it and both cars finished the race - having a double win for Red Bull is incredible."

Having already stormed to pole position on Saturday, the German had been looking at the prospect of starting the race in pouring conditions, although proceedings eventually got underway under safety car conditions. ""I think, first of all, it was the right decision as there was a lot of standing water," he went on. "It was okay at some corners but every lap there would be aquaplaning, sometimes less sometimes more. We knew we were on a short strategy (with his first pit stop on coming on lap 15) so I had to push at the beginning to get away from the pack, which we succeeded in doing.

"It was very difficult race. A lot of aquaplaning, you were just catching cars, keeping it on circuit. I think I had best conditions as no cars were running in front of me the whole race, so it was quite comfortable but still difficult with the aquaplaning, especially in the last corner."

Wishing to preserve his lead as much as possible in the final stages of the race, the German knew the hazards were as high as ever. "The last two laps I backed off, I didn't want to risk going off the track," he added. "Winning the race, and having won for Toro Rosso and Red Bull is fantastic."

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