After the disappointing Australia, Sebastian has come to Malaysia right on the equator. Burning sun rises to the high of South and crazy humidity of the tropics shed sweat on skin. Short-sleeved T-shirt and knee-length pants – that baggy style is the favourite of Sebastian.
He left the disappointments in the first two events. He could forget the worry about reliability by trusting the team.
“I think the cars are built on the limit,” he said. after arriving at the tropic circuit. “We don't have one big problem in the car. But sometimes one small thing breaks and then it leads to five other things to break, which then can have a big impact on your result. We didn't have a single problem similar to what happened in Bahrain or Melbourne during testing. Shit happens, so we carry on. Would, could, should is so nice but it didn't happen. it's history and we can't change it now."
“In the end there's a lot of positives we can take from the first two races. We have a very strong car in qualifying and race conditions.
The quickest, but not the strongest -- that was the Red Bull and Sebastian in these two races. But this time, they lacked speed when they started running in Malaysia on Friday. “Some small issues for me today, but nothing big. I wasn't 100 per cent happy today,” he said with cloudy face. His teammate was more unfortunate and lost a lot of time because of engine failure. Red Bull crews were required another long night this week, too.
That was rewarded on Saturday. They got first and third grid for the race in the qualifying session even thought heavy squall caused a flood on the track.
“I think there was too much water -- the cars are quite low, so you end up swimming more than driving. It was a tricky session -- it was important to get into the next round and then qualify as high up as we could, which we did. It's a shame as I had some moments on my fastest lap, but if you look back there wasn't that much margin. I think we can be very pleased with third today and everything is possible tomorrow."
As his words, he was watching eagerly for a chance from his third grid. “Boys, behave yourselves!” his boss Christian Horner said to the drivers just before the race.
The game has been decided in the first 500 meter from the start. Sebastian managed to control his throttle pedal perfectly and show flashing acceleration. He caught his teammate’s tail and then jumped into the inside of the first corner.
“The start for myself was crucial,” he said just after the race. “I had a good start, good initial momentum. I was a bit worried to start on the dirty side as the right side is the clean side but I was patient really trying to control the wheelspin and didn't ask for too much throttle too early. That was the key to get past Nico [Rosberg] and then run with big tow down to turn one.
The third time was the charm. Finally he finished perfect race and crossed the checkered flag in front of all other cars. He stood on the podium for the first time this year. He might enjoyed too much his first champagne fight.
“I’m sorry, I feel a bit tipsy from the champagne! I think I took a bit too much!!
Finishing three races, this season’s championship shows tough and tight battle between top eight drivers. Of course Sebastian is in the list. Let’s wait and see his fights in the coming races. F1 circus is moving to Shanghai now.
