Q & A with Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel: "It will be very nice. I did my first kart race just around the corner from Hockenheim, I did my first car race at Hockenheim, and now my first home grand prix is at Hockenheim. I like the cirucit, it's very close to where I come from and it should be quite good weather. It's always quite hot this time of year, not like Silverstone!"

Q. How important is the German Grand Prix in building up your profile at home?

SV: "I don't know, I hope that a lot of people will come. Obviously we have five drivers this year so it's very good for Germany. If more people come and more people cheer it will be a very nice experience. It won't be like Lewis at Silverstone, though, I've never experienced anything like that."

Q. Is there a rivalry among the German drivers to become 'the next Schumacher'?

SV: "In the end you want to beat whoever is in front of you, you dont care whether he's German, Finnish, English, or whatever. The rivalry is more in the TV and media, they push it a bit.

"Sometimes it's a bit funny if you watch the last race on German television, they say 'now we have Kimi on the podium again but all the German drivers are far away from that result'. It's difficult when you're not an insider, you don't realise why someone is always 1-2-3 and others are no better than P15."

Q. Have they got so used to having Michael Schumacher winning so often?

SV: "It's very difficult for anyone in the paddock to do similar. Sometimes you are happy when you finish 12th, as we did in Magny-Cours, a good race, a perfect pit-stop, and we did everything we could. People don't appreciate it as much as if someone is on the podium but maybe could have won the race. But that's why we have to fight and my target is to be in a position to be able to fight for victory."

Q. Is it a burden for the German drivers to always be compared to Michael Schumacher?

SV: "No. You cannot say that what the people say is in your mind. For me, I don't care. I have my target: every single lap in every single race I want to do the best I can. Therefore there is no need for anyone in the media to say 'oh he did good' or 'he did bad'.

"If someone says you did good maybe you are happy, but it doesn't help for the next lap. If someone says you did bad, if they have the right criteria and there is a bit of truth, maybe you can learn. But in the end it's important not to care too much or you will lose your way."

Q. Have you felt your profile building up over the past 12 months? Has it changed the way you live?

SV: "My life hasn't changed much, I'm very rarely recognised. I'm still the same person. I think outside of F1 when I have time off I do normal stuff like the others. I'm not studying, so from that point of view you could say I'm not developing but apart from that I like to do the same stuff my friends do.

"It's very easy to stay in touch with your friends - you have the internet and phones. I think friendship is very important in terms of your family and the people who are close to you and also your friends.

"Sometimes I read things and they say it's difficult to keep up the friendship, but it's the same if I was studying in Hamburg or London or whatever and my friend was studying in Milan. It's still a big distance."

Q. Do your friends still treat you the same?

SV: "Yes. I like to play football from time to time. They are better than I am and they still say I'm shit when I'm on the field."