Lewis Hamilton (Left) and Michael Schumacher (Right) chat during Thursday's press conference at Suzuka Circuit in Japan. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Q: You haven’t been there before? Did you do the F3 races?

AS: No, for me it is the first time in Korea.

Q: Lewis, have you been to Korea before?

Lewis HAMILTON: I have, yes.

Q: What were your memories of racing there?

LH: I remember going there in Formula Three. I think it was a follow-on race from Macau. I cannot really remember the circuit too well but there was a very tight chicane there. I qualified pole. It was my first pole position in I think one of my first races in Formula Three and I remember being taken out by a certain driver but other than that it was a good weekend.

Q: Looking at this circuit, how do you see the challenges of this circuit?

LH: Well, firstly I am very happy to be here. I love being here in Japan. It is great to be back out here. Last year was quite a good race for us and I think generally just coming here it has always been a track that I enjoyed watching whilst I was growing up. Watching Michael race, watching Ayrton (Senna) race down here and (Alain) Prost. It seemed, at least while watching growing up, one of the very tough circuits but very much a driver’s circuit. Coming here for the first time last year was a great experience and looking forward to getting back out there. We did not have enough laps last year. There are never enough laps. It is a very challenging circuit. The first sector is incredible. You just never seem to stop, corner after corner after corner, and it is such a beautiful flow through there and I think the whole track is like that, so I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Q: Martin Whitmarsh made a point that only one McLaren has finished the last four races. Obviously he is looking for more finishes than that and the drivers would like to finish as well. You have got to stay out of trouble, but to what extent what can a driver do about it?

LH: As drivers we are always on the ragged edge. We are always trying to gain position whilst staying safe. Some of us are more aggressive than others in those positions. Some people do a lot less overtaking than others. You just try to keep out of trouble. It is not easy. Racing is racing and there are racing incidents every now and then, so that is to be expected. I think I have had a pretty good string of races in my Formula One career. I have scored a lot of points in only four years, so it is not all so bad.

Q: Michael, a remarkable record here. Six wins and half of your starts from pole position as well. What are your feelings about this circuit?

Michael SCHUMACHER: Well, from a driver’s point of view it is probably the highlight of the year. Mentioning the first sector as before that’s the one. That’s what you look forward to. From a driver’s point of view that is the ultimate challenge and I really look forward to this one. It has been through all the years very exceptional.

VIDEO: Virtual Lap Japanese GP SPEED takes you on a virtual lap of Suzuka Circuit. (Image: SPEED)

Q: What about your preparations for Korea? What have you been able to do?

MS: There is not much that can be done from that point of view in terms of simulator. Yes, we have a simulator but nobody has been able to drive the track so, at least for me, it is not anything that I make use of. I will go, as I did in Singapore, arrive there and see the nature of the track and get used to it as I normally do.

Q: You have been asked this many times, but we are getting towards the end of this comeback year for you. Just summarise how you have seen it so far this year.

MS: Well, it has been a much tougher year than we expected. If you think of the performance that the team was able to do last year, expectations were high. We have not been able to fulfil those expectations. At the same time it has been a long-term project and if I look back at how long it took with Benetton and with Ferrari to build up a team and then finally to take success it has never been possible to do that in the short term. The nature of the fact that the team used to be a big team, such as the top three teams, then was reduced to a much smaller team during last year due to circumstances that everybody knows, we are now a rather small team compared to the top running teams. That, in the situation that we are right now, makes it, naturally, a little bit more difficult. But then we have made decisions and steps to get back to the winning route although naturally it will take time.