Q: A surprise not see the McLarens closer?

MW: Yeah. I would say so. If you look at the last year and a half or so, they love the publicity on Friday night but they’ve got a quick car. But they are always very, very fast on Fridays, really quick, and they are always generally quickest on Friday. Saturday, I thought they would definitely… OK, they’re not a million miles away but there’s a bit of a surprise that we beat Fernando and the two McLarens, but they had a bit of a tough qualifying by the looks of it, for whatever reason.

Red Bull Racing has won all four poles this season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Q: Fernando, would you prefer it to be wet tomorrow? Do you think you would have a better chance in the wet tomorrow?

FA: No, I would prefer dry but if it rains, it’s the same for everybody and this is in a race situation. Always a wet qualifying makes it more difficult because it depends on which moment on the track you get because you can improve three or four seconds, but in a race situation you are always on the same lap as everybody, so it’s the same for all of us. If it rains tomorrow it will be fine, it will be interesting to see how the race develops but as I said, with the potential of our car and how good it normally performs at race pace, I think a dry situation would be more normal for us.

Q: Do you think with more time yesterday and perhaps with some more development from the aerodynamics you were trying yesterday you could have been on the front row today?

FA: Definitely not for the time that I lost yesterday because the first practice session is just a real check of how the car is working and setting the tire pressures, the ride height and very simple things, so I definitely didn’t lose any performance time. In terms of car developments, I think we are happy with what we have. In fact we have some new pieces here for this Grand Prix and maybe thanks to those I am third now. With two tenths slower, you could be seventh or eighth, so a huge effort from the team introducing new parts every race. As I said, thanks to those parts I think I am here in this press conference today.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, on race pace Ferrari looks very strong; looking at the data yesterday you looked even stronger than them, but we don’t know how much fuel everybody was running. Do you feel confident for tomorrow, can you win?

FA: Well, as we have all said, I think tomorrow’s race will be determined by the weather: when it will rain, if it’s wet all race, only the first part, only the middle or only the end? We don’t know. Anyone can win those types of races because there is so much difference in terms of lap time if you make the right choice at the pit stop or whatever. If you make a wrong tire choice, you put on intermediates when you should have put on extreme or vice versa, you can lose ten seconds a lap. That’s the problem of wet races for us, for the teams, for the championship contenders. It’s very nice to watch a wet race on TV but it’s very risky for us.

Q: (Carlos Miquel – Diario AS) Fernando, you tested in Jerez when it was very wet; what is the level of your car in rain conditions, because Red Bull is the best car in those conditions I think.

FA: It’s true that we had a winter with a lot of wet (testing) sessions. To be honest, we don’t really know how competitive we can be in the wet, because no one runs in the test at the same time with the same age of tires and the same fuel, so nobody knows. I think we will be OK tomorrow. We did some laps in Australia and unfortunately at the wrong time some laps in Malaysia as well but those Q1 laps seemed competitive as well, compared to the other guys at the same time, so we will see. Wet conditions are always tricky.

Q: (Carlos Miquel – Diario AS) I have a question for all the drivers about the volcano; are you worried about getting back to Europe?

FA: No worries, I hope to get back to Europe normally.

SV: I will rent a car and drive back.

MW: Yeah, I’m in the same car as Seb, we’re going back together. Or I go to Australia, I keep going this way.

FA: You swim.

MW: I keep going this way.

SV: One stop.

MW: I can keep going that way.

FA: You can swim.

Q: (Chinese media) Two questions for Sebastian: first question is that it seems that you have become the new superstar of Formula One, especially in Germany, as people think Michael Schumacher is out of date. What do you think of that?

SV: Fantastic question! I don’t consider myself as a superstar. It’s more the famous politicians and pop stars. I see myself as a racing driver, something that I have been dreaming of since I was young. It’s nice to be here, part of Formula One, and obviously it’s even much nicer when you sit here, so I really enjoy what I’m doing and I’m proud to be next to guys like Fernando, Mark, whosoever. For sure, in Germany, the greatness of Michael is untouched. I know that I’m German, I know that I come from Germany but it would be quite ridiculous to compare myself – at the stage that I am now – with someone like Michael. He’s a legend, he’s one of the best the sport has ever seen. There’s obviously a long way to go. I think, as everyone else, I try to do the best for myself and we are all individuals, so that’s the only thing I can say really.

Q: (Chinese media) OK, you haven’t been in Formula One long; what have you learned from your success or failure and do you think you have grown up?

SV: Well, if you compare me to Michael as you did before, I’m a greenhorn, you know? I’ve only been here for three or three and a half years, it’s not a long time.

MW: It’s taken him three years to grow this (fingers Sebastian’s fluffy chin).

SV: I have to keep my visor closed, otherwise it’s gone! I’m obviously not the oldest on the grid. At the moment, as I said, I’m enjoying what I’m doing a lot. I don’t know where we will be in five, ten years. At the moment, I would say hopefully in Formula One if teams sign me. You never know. Formula One changes quickly as does life, so things can change quickly.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, as you said, you’re still struggling a little bit in qualifying and this is the maximum that you can achieve. What do you have to do to improve, which areas of the car?

FA: I don’t know, I think it’s the performance of the car which you need to improve, obviously. I think every car has different characteristics, every team has a different philosophy as well. We saw in the past, as well… I remember during my time at McLaren, for whatever reason, we were always quick in qualifying and Ferrari was quick in the race, so it’s just… The car itself is very consistent, it takes care of its tires very, very well, so this is a good thing for the race and maybe in qualifying we lack a bit of grip but I think with that philosophy Ferrari won so many championships and races, so the points are on Sunday, so hopefully we can keep it that way.

Q: (Marco Degl’Innocenti – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, just continuing the question before: you are very modest but are you conscious that you are already the man of the year, the man of this world championship?

SV: Definitely not. We’ve had four races, I think all of us up here have to stay on the ground, you know. Everything can still happen. Just before we came here, I read that some people don’t think that it’s still a fight within four teams, but I think it is. We’ve had three races, if you look at the points it could be zero as well, at least at the top, there’s not much difference. You see how quickly things change. I’ve had two failures this year; once I was lucky still to finish. Fernando, just before the end of the race in Malaysia had to retire, so things can happen, as I said, and they can change quickly, so you have to be there consistently until the last race in Abu Dhabi and then you see who has got the most points. When there are only a couple of races left, you can see who is probably fighting for the championship and who is not mathematically, but right now everyone can still win, so there’s a long, long way. Not only us but also the teams have to push to make sure that you stay at the top. If you don’t move forwards in Formula One it’s like going backwards. I think it’s still very early.

SOURCE: FIA

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