German interview Friday: F1 talks to Vettel, Sutil [Updated]

The folks behind the official Formula 1 site must be vacationing in Germany this week.

Today, the site posted interviews with young German drivers Sebastian Vettel and Adrian Sutil.

Here’s some highlights, first from Vettel:

Q: It’s your turn to make it happen. What would you say were your strengths and weaknesses?
SV: I have a very strong team, which supports me 100 percent, and we really have a great atmosphere within the team. In Renault we have one of the strongest engine partners on board. They are also one of the best in terms of fuel consumption. I am sure the car will be very competitive. So far there are only positives, so let’s see.

Q: The Red Bull was pretty perfect last season, but there is a big question mark hovering over the engine. Are Renault capable of delivering something competitive?
SV: It’s correct that we had some engine problems during last season and there is no way to get around that. But I know Renault looked into them, and towards the end of the season we didn’t have any more issues. Please don’t forget that, even though everybody predicted us to have an additional engine change and to receive a penalty, we did not. So while there was nobody in a worse position, we didn’t lose ground because of it and could continue to fight for the championship. We have all worked hard over the winter, not only at Renault and Viry, and have analysed what went wrong during the season, so that it doesn’t happen again.

Whoops… Der Seb got caught a little off message there. “We’ve got a strong engine partner in Renault, who last year was our weak link that kept me from being the champion.” Might want to head back to the PR room, Seb.

That said, if the team has ironed out the engine problems, Vettel just may be a good bet for the championship. I think, though, we might also have more opportunities to see whether his lack of maturity haunts him. He had a few blunderheaded moves in 2009; he can’t afford those during a year with a resurgent McLaren and Ferrari (we assume), the Mercedes GP team and his own team mate.

Q: What was your first thought when the news broke that Schumacher would return?
SV: I was surprised like all of us were I guess. I think it was a brave decision for Michael to make and one that is exciting for the sport. But in the end it doesn’t change my challenge for the season, except that there is another strong competitor out there. But there are other drivers who will be very strong too.

Q: Looking at the 2010 grid you and team mate Mark Webber are up against some very strong ‘enemy’ line-ups like Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa at Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button at McLaren, and Schumacher and Nico Rosberg at Mercedes. Which of these pairings do you think will be the toughest to beat?
SV: Out on the circuit everybody is your ‘enemy’, it doesn’t matter who it is. In the end you have to beat them all.

Der Seb continues to sound less than enthused about Schumacher’s return, doesn’t he?

And… “everybody” is your enemy on the circuit? Including… Mark?

Q: It’s been revealed that Red Bull are set to miss the first official pre-season test in Valencia. Are you worried about missing vital track time?
SV: Sure it’s disappointing. But we will have 12 days of testing for the new car, which is plenty of time. It’s much better to spend time in the windtunnel and on the design of the new car, so I am perfectly happy with this.

Does someone who is truly happy ever say “I’m perfectly happy with this”? I don’t think so.

Now, on to the most underrated F1 driver named Adrian:

Q: Adrian, you have just come back from a promotional tour of India. After two years of Force India, what did you make of Formula One racing’s fan base in India?
Adrian Sutil: Support for Formula One is picking up a lot in India. Over the last two years Force India, and Formula One in general, have been established as strong brands in India. The fans are quite enthusiastic and follow the sport very carefully. Of course at the moment you can’t compare it to support in Europe, but I think it’s on the way to becoming very popular, very soon.

F1’s global expansion continues. And I prep for a trip to the inaugural Indian GP.

But, really, those efforts make sense. The sheer numbers of potential fans in India and China, let alone places like Indonesia, make those areas impossible to ignore.

Q: This year will see teams – and their budgets – shrink. Force India will therefore have an advantage as neither your headcount nor your budget needs to be reduced. Do you think it could be a successful season for the team?
AS: What probably was a shortfall in the past is now turning into a big advantage for us right now, as we are used to working within a small budget and with less people. We can fully concentrate on our development, as we used to do over the last few years, without having to shift energy into various downgrades. Other teams need to learn – probably painfully – how to work efficiently with less people and a reduced budget. That could take a little while and so 2010 could be a big opportunity for us.

Q: Force India’s driver line-up also remains the same, with you and Vitantonio Liuzzi on driving duties. Will that help too?
AS: Yeah, it should be good for both of us. There is only testing in February and whilst you’re there you don’t really want to lose time on getting used to a new team or team mate. I see this as another advantage for us, especially during the first few races, where the others will still have to find their way around their new team and figure out what their team mate is like.

An interesting angle. Force India avoids painful downsizing and has a more consistent, focused off-season. Result: Maybe results?

Also, does this mean there is a budget cap this season? As Todd wondered, there has been some talk about forced cutting, although we haven’t seen a bunch of canary yellow clad guys wandering the streets of Maranello during the day. This might be the one story F1 is managing and keeping quiet.

Q: Michael Schumacher is back. Will there be room in the spotlight for other drivers?
AS: I hope so! For sure it is special for Germany to have him back in a Mercedes car. But in the end I think it’s all about success. If you have a good car and you can compete with him, you will get the same media attention that he does. And should you beat him, it would be a bonanza.

Q: There are three weeks to go before the first test and two months until the Bahrain Grand Prix. What does your schedule look like for the weeks ahead?
AS: Right now my preparation countdown starts with my last few weeks’ training. You know… the Christmas cookies and all that! After that I will have my final seat fitting in the car and then a shakedown test. So there is not too much time left. You could say that the season is just around the corner.

They’ve got to ask about Michael, don’t they?

Finally, good for Adrian to put in a little humor and humanity. Christmas cookies, indeed. There needs to be more of that honest, real-person talk.

* Update: Looks like Adrian also has tipped when we’ll be seeing the Force India car:

Q: The ban on refuelling is the biggest change this season. How advanced is the development of the VJM3? Will Force India be present at the Valencia test? With the new car?
AS: The whole team is hard at work developing the best car possible and it looks very, very promising right now. For sure the new rules are a big challenge for everybody, so to make a clear statement about how good we have been in interpreting those new regulations we will have to wait until the first test in Jerez, where I will drive the VJM3 for the first time.

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