Q: Sebastian, last year you won here in Budapest. Could that also be possible on Sunday - or are the circumstances completely different to 2015?

Sebastian Vettel: It is always possible to win - that’s why we are here! If we already knew who is going to win it would be a waste of time, effort and money to come here. We are racing to find out who will take the victory.



Q: Christian Horner, a gentleman not unfamiliar to you, suggested that you are not so happy any longer at Ferrari. What is your current ‘happy level’?

SV: Ah, that’s really incredible that he knows all these things without having spoken to me! In the end there are so many whispers and talk in the paddock - and that is good. A whole profession lives from rumours and blowing them up! (laughs) But let me tell you: there is nothing to it. I am pretty happy where I am. I don’t think I’m telling a secret when I say that all at Ferrari are not satisfied with how the 2016 season has started. Our goals are still high - nothing has changed in that. We are all determined to bring Ferrari back to where it belongs: up there on the podium.



Q: One could say that you probably overachieved last season: is that a curse now in hindsight, as everybody thought that there was only one direction that you could go - and that is up? A classic case of ‘no good deed goes unpunished’?

SV: I think the same should be possible this season - so far we’ve simply not been able to do it. There are reasons for it - and I am far away from calling it a failure. Heaven forbid! In general we know the causes, but it is not so easy to react and the others are far from falling into winter sleep. So the suggestion is that the step we’ve made - and we’ve made a step forward compared to last year - is not big enough. I am very convinced that we are on the right path and to run through the paddock with ‘worry lines’ would be the totally wrong thing to do. Last year we finished in P2 and the normal thing then is to attack those in the lead and yes, that we haven’t been able to do - but we are close.

Q: The whole of Italy has high expectations when it comes to Ferrari - and the Italian media are not holding back with their comments. How much does the team feel the pressure of unfulfilled expectations?

SV: That is not a real issue for us. Media everywhere like catchy headlines, but everybody in the team knows that we are moving forward, so you just page down.

Q: So Ferrari have a plan for how to become champions again? One that is not visible from the outside?

SV: There is, of course, a plan. I think I’ve said it many times before: yes, we had hoped to do better - to be competitive right from the start of the season - alas it was not meant to be. The car is getting better since Melbourne and we’ve learned many things in the course of the last couple of months.