It was fantastic to win first ever Grand Prix of India: Vettel

Vettel paid tribute to MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli and IndyCar racer Dan Wheldon,who succumbed to fatal crashes recently while racing in different circuits.

“We pray that every time nothing happens as Marco Simoncelli and Dan Wheldon disappeared last week-end and we will never forget these young committed two drivers,” he said.

The Red Bull driver said his team is still hungry to win and he is looking forward to races at Abu Dhabi and Brazil.

“The car is fantastic. The team is enjoying the performance. When I walk in the garage,I see that the guys are working very hard. We are still hungry. It is a fantastic achievement. I am looking at the two next races,” said Vettel,who will next bid to equal Michael Schumacher’s 13 F1 win record in a season.

The 24-year-old said the circuit was challenging and a good start was very important.

“It is very challenging. It is very easy to go over the limit and to end up in the dust. Then you have to fight your way back. It is not so easy with traffic,” he said.

“The start was important. I was focusing a lot on turn 3. It was crucial to have a clean exit. I was able to pull away in the first laps. Jenson pitted. We had to react. The second sting was more tricky to manage.

“The tires were a bit of an issue. But I found the rhythm again. After Jenson pitted,we reacted the lap after. Then I was able to push. We wanted to have Jenson in the mirrors and that is where we kept him,” he added.

Vettel said a new track poses many questions but now that they have the experience of racing here,they would have more data for next year.

“It is always clear than when there is a new track there are many questions to answer. Like tire choice. We knew about the soft tires. We were not sure if we had to pit twice or three times. These days we get an idea about the track. It is different when it is new,” he said.

“We have more data for next year and we can understand more for the car and for the setup. It is more difficult for strategy,set-up when the track is new. As of now,our life will be a lot easier.”

McLaren Mercedes driver Jenson Button,who finished second at the podium,said it was a fantastic race and dedicated it to Marco and Dan.

“I am fantastically happy. I got a good start and then I was trying to match Sebastian’s pace. Yesterday I had a disaster in qualifying but it was a good race,” he said.

“It was a tough week-end last week with two fatalities. I knew Dan very well. It is a very sad race. I think we should dedicate this race to Marco and Dan.”

The 31-year-old British said he lacked pace to catch up with Vettel but overall it was a good race.

“I had Mark behind me. I was able to pull away. It was a fun race. We did a good job. The pace is not quite there. But we will make up,” he said.

“The race was very different. I had a good start and then it was about judging where to put the car on turn 3. You have to be very careful where to put the car on turn 3. Mark pushed me very hard. We had a go on turn 4. In the end it was tricky.

“The guys on the team did a tremendous pit-stop. The pace was good. But when Sebastian was in the rhythm,we could not touche him. We did not have the pace.

“I hope that Sebastian is not untouchable. He is difficult to challenge. We tried everything today. But Sebastian and Red Bull were untouchable. We hope we can challenge him,” he added.