Vettel: Titles bring more pressure

Sebastian Vettel feels a different kind of pressure since becoming world champion and doesn’t believe he is favourite to win in 2013…

Sebastian Vettel has admitted that he feels a different kind of pressure since he won his third world championships and that it might damage his chances of winning another title in 2013…

The young German beat two-time champion Fernando Alonso by a mere three points this year after surviving a shunt on the opening lap at a dramatic finale at Interlagos in Brazil.

Despite being tipped – by Alonso no less – as the favourite to win a fourth crown next year, Vettel maintains that he as well as his Red Bull team will keep up their methodical approach going forward.

“I said after [Brazil] race that the hardest thing is to win after you have [already] won,” commented the German.

“You get the attention and the pressure, and you are very likely to focus on how to win again, rather than the small steps [needed] to win in first place.

“Of course there’s pressure, [and] on top of that it’s always getting more and more tense at the end of the year, within the last couple of races depending on who you fight in order to try to win the championship.

“Obviously we have won the championship [in 2010 and ’11] and this year again, so I don’t want to praise ourselves, but I think we have done a couple of things right.”

After clinching the title at Interlagos, Vettel had to hit back at the ‘dirty tricks’ that were used against his team over the course of the season. He added that his orderly approach to racing helped him from becoming preoccupied with off-the-track issues.
“It’s not our decision or in our hands when other people try literally everything to beat us,” he explained.
“There might just be a little bit of a rumour; other things might get said; and other things might happen eye to eye without any words, without you having to mention anything.
“It’s not easy to stay focussed in that regard – it’s very, very hard.
“Again the most important thing is to focus on yourself and to remain yourself.
“You don’t try to be something you are not it just distracts and takes energy away.”