Red Bull Racing expected Sebastian Vettel’s second consecutive race retirement in Brazil on Sunday, with the World Champion having run into gearbox problems at Interlagos. Comparing himself to Ayrton Senna, who had a similar issue en route to victory 20 years ago, the German yielded to winning team-mate Mark Webber before finishing 17 seconds in arrears.
“It was a difficult race for Sebastian, he had a gearbox problem from Lap 5, and we didn’t think that it would last until half distance,” Team Principal Christian Horner told BBC Sport.
“He did everything he needed to, with short-shifting and things like that. It was phenomenal. But let’s not take anything from Mark - he drove a phenomenal race and thoroughly deserves victory.
“Mark’s had a tough year, but he got his head down and worked hard. He was competitive all weekend and he wanted to end on a high, so it’s great for him to win final race of year. He’s up against a team-mate in the form of his life with Sebastian, he’s signed off his year in the best way and can go into winter and reflect on the year. He’s and honest guy, will look at his performances and I’m sure he’ll come back stronger.
“As a whole it’s a great pairing for us to have, with Mark and Sebastian, and I’m delighted to have them both in the team next year.”
Further post-race feelings from Red Bull:
- Webber hails 'very important' triumph
- Vettel refuses to regret gearbox issue
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  M. Webber | Red Bull | 1:32:17.464 |
| 2. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +16.983 |
| 3. | J. Button | McLaren | +27.638 |
| 4. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +35.048 |
| 5. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +1:06.733 |
| 6. | A. Sutil | Force India | +1 Lap |
| 7. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +1 Lap |
| 8. | P. di Resta | Force India | +1 Lap |
| 9. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +1 Lap |
| 10. | V. Petrov | Lotus Renault | +1 Lap |
| Full results | |||
| Christian Horner | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Christian Horner photos | |||
| Sebastian Vettel | |||
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| More Sebastian Vettel photos | |||
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