Brazilian GP - Interlagos - Friday practice
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q. Felipe, can we have an update; a progress report. How are you?
Felipe MASSA: Very good. I mean it would be better to be driving the car but I am quite happy that things are going quite well. The recovery was really great, so I can say I am the same as before. In the last three weeks, which was after the second operation, I started to do fitness and I have to say now I am really the same I was before the accident in terms of the physical side. I did the simulator, not really one day, it was 100kms in Fiorano in the 2007 car and it was very good. To be honest, I was pushing, I was not really slow, everything was normal. Even the consistency was good. Everything was really normal and I am really, really happy.
Q. What is the next step. What more do you have to do?
FM: Now I can do everything, like I was doing before. The only big issue is that everything needs to be 100 per cent ready as our sport is a risk sport. We can have another accident. I hope not, but we can. It is better to be 100 per cent ready to recover from another accident. That is why we are waiting a little bit more and it will be better to wait until next year.
Q. What is it like being here and not driving?
FM: Not easy. I have to say I want to be in the car, driving especially here in Brazil. It would have been fantastic to come back for this race. Unfortunately we need to wait a little bit more. It is not very easy to be on the outside just looking and not doing anything, just discussing what's happening on the test, but let's prepare everything for next year to be in a good shape.
Q. Stefano, what more can Ferrari do to help Felipe?
Stefano DOMENICALI: Well, I think what we can do is first of all thinking ahead and looking ahead, to have a good car, a better car than this year. That is the thing that is fundamental, surely. Then, of course, working together and trying to prepare himself and see what we can do in terms of his fitness preparation and work with the engineers, the simulator. This is what we can do and what we will do. We know that it seems a long way to go but the first race next year will be much faster than what we all think and we need to do the right thing to be sure that Felipe will be totally 100 per cent ready with the team at that day.
Q. Since the last race you have also announced your other driver for next year. An interesting mix of drivers. How are you going to manage them?
SD: It is more you are trying to put on the table. That is part of the game. We will have a great couple of drivers who know what the main focus is. The main focus is that the team's interest has the priority. Felipe has been part of our family for many years and he knows that very well. Fernando (Alonso), I am pretty sure, will understand that as that is the nature of our team and they have to respect it and there will be no problem at all.
Q. Lewis, as you have mentioned, you come here in a very different situation to what you have had for the last couple of years. Explain that and how you are taking it.
Lewis HAMILTON: Firstly, I would like to say welcome back to Felipe. It is great to see him. I have not seen him since he disappeared on us and it is the first time we have spoken, so welcome back. I think the sport has missed him and I have missed my battles with him, so I looking forward to next year and seeing him back on the grid and having some great fights again. Coming here it is a much more relaxed environment for me. Last year was extremely intense and I am sure it is the same for Felipe now. We can come here more relaxed. For me, at least I can be in the car and I am very happy I can be in the car and we approach it in the sense that it is not we want to win the championship this weekend. It is more or less go out and win the race, have a great race and see what we can do, so it is quite a different approach. A different feeling at least in the team.
Q. Looking back a year ago when you were here for the championship and the outcome of the championship was almost influenced by another driver, although admittedly he was doing his own race, how much does a driver bear in mind there is a fight going on for the championship when he is racing? How easy is it to do that? Is it something you bear in mind at all?
LH: I think when you are on the track and you know that someone is battling, at least for me the way I see it, is you have respect for all the drivers. I would want to make sure I get out of the way and not ruin anyone's race. It doesn't have to be for the championship. It can be any race where you are maybe midfield or being overtaken. I know what it is like leading a race and you don't want to get held up. I always make sure that I do a good job, so the others will do a good job for me. I am sure the drivers are all aware of it.
Q. Martin, what is your driver situation for next year?
Martin WHITMARSH: Again, just before I answer that one. Felipe is behind me and you have only got to spend 30 seconds in his presence to know he is going to be competitive next year. What a tough little guy. He looks in good shape now in fact. I think that is fantastic for Formula One. He drove a fantastic race here last year and put on a real fight with Lewis, so it is fantastic he is back. I am sure it will be an exciting year next year. Regarding our situation with drivers, we are in a different situation. They were very intense races the last two times we have been here. We have got two young, ambitious drivers in our team, Lewis is one of those, and we are going to concentrate on doing the best job we can here and in Abu Dhabi and try and win some races and enjoy it. We will plan for the future and when we have something to announce we will announce it, but here we are loyal to the two race drivers we have and we want to do as good a job as we can.
Q. Are we likely to hear before the end of the season?
MW: No, I don't think you are now. The end of the season is accelerating upon us. What we are really concentrating on back in Woking is that we are developing an entirely new car with quite an aggressive engineering programme. We intend to start the season much more competitively than we started this one. That's the priority and in the meanwhile we will see what we can do in these two races. I think that is our concentration. We will concentrate on some of those other issues after the season now.
Q. You can claim a certain amount of interest in the World Championship via the Mercedes link in the back of the Brawn car. Tell us about the effort that has gone into that engine.
MW: I think it is right that we remain impartial in the championship to a degree. We are going to race and do the best job we can, but it is satisfying for our partner Mercedes Benz. They have done a fantastic job over the last few years and for them to be in line to win a championship when we haven't had such a good season is good news. It is good for them and well deserved. It is an interesting title fight now. It is there to be lost and we know how difficult that can be. It adds a bit of pressure. In a way for the fans it would be great if the championship went down to the last race in Abu Dhabi but on the other hand I am sure there are some of our friends in Brawn who would be delighted to see it finished off here.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q. (Andrea Cremonesi - La Gazzetta dello Sport) Felipe, we saw you shaking hands with Fernando. He said yesterday that he wants to talk to you about next year. Have you already had the chance to speak about that and are you ready to give him some advice for the new partnership?
FM: Well, we've just shaken hands. I asked 'how is it going here,' he said ‘very difficult,' so no more than that. We haven't really spoken about next year, but for sure we're going to have enough time to speak about next year and I hope that we can have a great team and we can have very good results for Ferrari.
Q. (Rodrigo Franca – VIP Magazine) Stefano, what will be the biggest challenge for Ferrari next season? The arrival of Fernando Alonso, building a new and competitive car or adapting to the new rules?
SD: It's very simple: the biggest challenge is if I can say what Martin has already anticipated: to have a much quicker and more reliable car at the beginning of the season because if we have a good car then I think everything will be reasonably easy to manage. For sure, this is the biggest challenge. We don't want to live – not just from the technical point of view but also from the human point of view – the year that we have lived this year, so we are really looking forward to being positive for next year. This, for sure, is the biggest challenge.
Q. (Mark Surer – Sky Germany) Lewis, the engine loses horsepower here because of the altitude. Do you think that because of that, KERS is even more of an advantage, can you feel more help from the KERS?
LH: No. Of course we lose power because of the altitude we're at right now. That power we can't recover but fortunately the KERS is not affected by the altitude, so it's the same as before. We don't have any more of a gain than we do at other circuits but being quite a short circuit it's good enough here, it's as good as anywhere.
Q. (Ingo Rörsch – Sportbild) Lewis, if we say the title decision will be open until Abu Dhabi, can you describe the feeling to come to the last race like last year in Brazil and you only have to score points. What will Jenson (Button) feel then?
LH: It's different for everyone, I think. It's different for myself, it's different for Felipe, it's different for Jenson. I can't tell you what he's feeling or what he's going to go through but for me, I approached it the same... I arrived here quite relaxed, I was in a good mood, I was in good spirits. It was intense when you arrive at the circuit but that's just your competitiveness coming out. It was just about balancing your mind and your focus and really looking after your energy and doing the best job you can do. Every race is different, so I can't say how it's going to be for these guys.
Q. (Heiko Wasser – RTL) Felipe, first of all, we are happy to see you here. You're doing the chequered flag job on Sunday; I hope you will get the first one. We've seen different scenes here in the past. Would you prefer to show the chequered flag to a red car or to a Brazilian driver? And who do you think is going to be World Champion?
FM: Well, for sure it will be a pretty difficult job for me to do the chequered flag. We at Ferrari are definitely not in a very great position this year. I hope I can show the chequered flag to our team but I hope that Rubens (Barrichello) has a chance to fight for the championship. For sure, if I give the chequered flag to Rubens finishing first I will be very happy. It would be very good for Brazil. After that, we want our car to be first in the race.
To be honest, Jenson has a greater chance in the World Championship. He has a good possibility to score not a lot of points and still be World Champion. I think he has the best possibility to win the championship. Rubens's case is very difficult but as I told him before, he doesn't need to think about anything, he just needs to think about winning the race and the result will be what it will be. It doesn't depend anymore on just Rubens, it depends more on Jenson. I think Jenson has a greater chance.
Q. (Sarah Holt – BBC Sport) It's for Lewis and Felipe: last year you only had to come fifth to seal the title ahead of Felipe. Martin, you decided to perhaps take a more cautious approach to the race. Perhaps you could answer this question too. What would your advice be to Jenson and Brawn: would you say to really go for it and get the title won or would you just say take it easy, take it steadily and get the points in the bag and seal the title?
MW: I think it's different for everyone but here, last year, we took a relatively defensive strategy and it turned into a very difficult race for us, for all of us. I think it's a balance. I think that's what racing drivers are generally pretty good at, assessing the risk benefit, probably better than most humans. I think that he doesn't have to go all out and win but if you get too defensive, then I think it can hamper your natural flair and flow. For Lewis last year, the team had made some mistakes in the previous year. I think we went flat out when we didn't need to and Lewis was new at that time. We should have guided him better and so after what happened in 2007, I think there was an enormous amount of pressure, probably a little more so than even with Jenson. But I think the right thing is that they probably can't be too defensive, it's very, very competitive in Formula One now. He needs some points and I think if he just does the job normally with the car that he has, with the points' advantage that he has, he ought to win the championship and he ought to be able to win it here, but anything can happen. We will see. Undeniably there is a lot of pressure on him but he shouldn't be too cautious.
FM: As I said before about Rubens, you don't need to care too much. He just needs to do his job, trying to win, and the second result which is Jenson's doesn't depend on Rubens. He just needs to try to win and score as many points as possible. I think on Jenson's side, he just needs to try his best, for sure, not be banging wheels with other cars, that's the most important thing, not to be too aggressive in terms of overtaking. But he needs to push, otherwise people will catch him and try to overtake and then he's at risk of finishing outside or whatever. He needs to push, but needs to be careful when it comes to fighting.
Q. (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere dello Sport) Lewis, Felipe said some days ago that the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix should be cancelled. What do you think about this?
LH: You should ask him. For me, there are 17 or 18 races in a season. There are lots and lots of ‘what ifs?' What if this happened, what if that happened? That's all you can really say. At the end of the day we had a great race, it came down to the last race, we had a great season, a great battle and I came out on top. There's not really much to say on that.
Bridgestone’s super soft tyre proved to be the fastest rubber at the undulating anti-clockwise Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo for the first day of the Brazilian Grand Prix as Fernando Alonso set a time of 1min 12.314secs in the afternoon practice session.
Red Bull Racing driver Mark Webber set the fastest time in the morning practice session, using the super soft to achieve a 1min 12.463secs. Weather conditions were cool and cloudy all day with intermittent showers. In the afternoon session all drivers were separated by less than a second.
Q&A with Hirohide Hamashima - Bridgestone Director of Motorsport Tyre Development
What was significant about today’s running?
“The first day at Interlagos is always a challenge and today was no different. The track surface was dirty and wet from drizzle and the weather was cooler than we expected. The temperature meant that the medium compound took a little longer to warm-up. Even so, both compounds worked well. The super soft has more grip however we saw graining on the front and rear tyres. Some drivers reported a moving sensation from the rear with the super soft, and this is a characteristic of the softer compound rubber.”
How do you expect this allocation to work over the weekend?
“We have to look to the skies for the answer to that question. As we saw last year, rain can be a very big factor here and many forecasts predict more rain over the weekend. For qualifying with the temperature similar to today we can expect the super soft to be the favoured tyre. For the race the medium compound should be the favoured tyre, although some competitors might find good results with the super soft.”
Free practices
First Session
K. Raikkonen:
10th, 1.13.321, 24 Laps, Chassis 279
G. Fisichella:
15th, 1.13.619, 23 Laps, Chassis 280
Second Session
K. Raikkonen: 18th
1.13.026, 42 Laps, Chassis 279
G. Fisichella:
20th 1.13.275, 38 Laps Chassis 280
Weather
First session: air
19/21 °C, track 21/25 °C; covered skies, intermittent rain.
Second session:
air 22 °C, track 23 °C; covered skies.
It was a rather difficult day for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, tackling the first two free practice sessions for the Brazilian Grand Prix. Watched by Felipe Massa, making his return to a race meeting, even if only as a spectator in the pits, rather than wearing a race suit, the two F60s ended up towards the back end of the FP2 classification, while not managing anything better than tenth place for Kimi Raikkonen in FP1. “Clearly, we cannot be satisfied with the way things went today,” said Stefano Domenicali. “We definitely have a lot of work to do to try and improve the set-up of the car within the limitations of what we have to work with. However, we should also take into account how close the times are, with all twenty drivers out on track this afternoon setting times within the same second. It takes almost nothing to make the difference between being at the front or at the back of the pack. This means that everyone, drivers and team, will have to carry out their work perfectly if we aspire to getting a good result this weekend, starting with tomorrow afternoon’s qualifying.”
Giancarlo Fisichella: “Eighteenth and twentieth places in FP2 is not a result we can be happy about but, to use a footballing expression, it’s all looking very tight, as it has been in fact for much of the year. On top of that, we are also working a lot for 2010 which makes it even harder to understand precisely where we stand compared to the others. We are really struggling in the second sector, where what counts the most is aerodynamic downforce, an area in which the F60 does not really excel. Tomorrow, it will be vital not to make the slightest mistake to try and get a good qualifying result: here it will only take a tenth or even less to fail to make it past Q1.”
Kimi Raikkonen: “I’d say this Friday was not too different to others we have experienced this season, especially in recent races. It’s all very close so it will only take a small step forward to climb back up the order, but we are definitely facing a difficult weekend. The tyres suffered with a bit of graining, which made itself felt especially in the second sector, but I believe that, as often happens here, once the track rubbers in, the situation will improve.”
Chris Dyer: “It was a pretty difficult Friday, with very changeable weather, which prevented us from getting through all our planned programme. Furthermore, we had a problem with Fisichella that prevented him from doing his final planned run in FP2. There’s a lot of work to do to try and improve the car, which lacks grip, which is particularly noticeable in the second sector, where we are not really competitive. We were also experimenting with some mechanical elements aimed at next season: without any winter testing available before the new car makes its debut, we have to exploit every opportunity, especially given the situation in the championship.”
Sebastian Vettel, P1 - 1:12.932, 3rd; P2 - 1:12.611, 7th
“All in all, a good Friday. We had another practice day without any engine trouble, even though we did a lot of laps - so thanks to Renault for that. Other than that, we were fast throughout the whole of practice today. We’ll look into the data now and I’m sure we can improve further - we should have enough time before tomorrow to make another step forward. Weather-wise, I think today was the day they predicted rain and it didn’t rain much, so maybe that means rain for Sunday?... We will see.”
Mark Webber, P1 - 1:12.463, 1st; P2 - 1:12.514, 4th
“We couldn’t have got much more out of today. The guys did a good job getting the optimum time on track that we could with the tricky conditions. We were dodging showers here and there, but we timed everything as well as we could. It’s one of the more encouraging Friday’s that we’ve had for a long time, so it was good. I hope it carries on tomorrow. We’ve seen that things can change day to day with this championship, so I’m looking forward to qualifying - it should be good for us.”
Rubens Barrichello - 3rd: "Our focus today was on evaluating our set-up for the race and whilst the times may not have always looked competitive, the data that we gathered will be very useful when we study all the options this evening. The car felt better when we put the softer option tyre on towards the end of the day and I was able to put in a good lap. It's great to finally get the track action underway today and I'm pleased with our progress and happy to be starting my home Grand Prix weekend at the top end of the field."
Jenson Button - 5th: "We achieved more running that we initially expected today with just a few little showers rather than the rain that was forecast. The car seems to be working well on the prime tyre which is encouraging and the pace was good. I'm struggling a little with the balance on the option tyre over one timed lap so hopefully we can resolve that overnight to be ready for qualifying."
Ross Brawn: "We had two good practice sessions today and are reasonably happy with our position at the end of the day. The balance of the cars improved this afternoon and both Rubens and Jenson are fairly comfortable with the set-up over longer runs. We still have some work to do overnight and ahead of qualifying to ensure that we achieve the best one-lap pace tomorrow."
Adrian Sutil - 9th: "Today went OK with no major problems, just working through everything as usual with the tyre comparisons. We didn't make any real changes on the car over the day as I was quite happy with the balance so we just waited until the grip improved on track and worked through the programme. The weather was a bit crazy and actually I think everyone expected more rain, but it was quite light. In FP2 in particular the track was wet in some places and dry in others so getting the right timing was important. I was quite pleased with the progress we made and I hope we can have a good day tomorrow in qualifying as well."
Tonio Liuzzi – 16th: "With this unpredictable weather it's important to be out at exactly the right time to get the best of the track so perhaps the final classifications are not truly representative of the real order right now. We still have to work on the balance as it is not 100% just yet but overall the car is responding well to all the changes we have made. Unfortunately we just got caught in traffic every time we tried to do a good lap time but I'm happy we are going in the right direction for tomorrow. I think we could be in for a good qualifying, particularly if the weather stays so uncertain or if it rains some more as we have been pretty competitive in these types of conditions so far this year."
Dominic Harlow, chief race engineer: "A couple of periods of light rain during the practice sessions today meant that our programmes were adjusted slightly to get a proper look at the tyres. It seems to be quite a standard set-up with the medium and super soft, and the car balance is not too far away. It's very close through the field, I've never seen so many positions decided on thousandths, not even hundredths of a second. Qualifying will be about traffic management and timing and it looks like the weather could also play a part."
Fernando Alonso - 1st: "Today wasn't easy because the weather conditions were changing all the time. That made it difficult to concentrate on the set-up of the car, but in the end we did some good runs with positive results and hopefully tomorrow we can continue this good work. I think that the weather will be the key to this weekend so we need to react quickly to any changes and be flexible. We have a very interesting weekend ahead of us and hopefully we can maximise the work that we do tomorrow morning so that we are in good shape for qualifying."
Romain Grosjean - 11th: "The day has gone quite well but the weather has been so unpredictable. We still managed to make made good progress and tomorrow morning I will continue working hard to improve my times. This was my first experience of the Interlagos circuit and it's a great place, although it isn't easy and the track has lots of uphill and downhill sections which are challenging. Tomorrow I need to continue learning the track as well as completing my preparations for qualifying and the race on Sunday."
Bob Bell, Team Principal: "Today the whole field was very closely matched and at the end of practice there was only a second covering all the cars. In the afternoon Fernando was fastest and Romain was only half a second down in P11. The major problem today was the lack of grip, which I think everybody suffered with, but overall the balance of our car wasn't too bad. During the day we made a few changes which brought some good results and we also have a reasonable understanding of the performance of the tyres. So we are in good shape now in terms of knowing what to do for the race, but we still need to find some more grip."
Jarno Trulli - 6th: "Everything went well today and we did our usual Friday testing work. We had some rain in both sessions which makes things a bit harder than normal and particularly in the morning there wasn't much grip. But even though the weather disrupted things for us, we still went through quite a few set-up changes and it feels like we are moving in the right direction. The car seems pretty good on this track and I had no major problems so I hope we can continue this positive progress for the rest of the weekend. After the great result last time in Suzuka I am really motivated to keep up the momentum and I am optimistic we can do that."
Kamui Kobayashi - 13th: "It was a a nice experience to be starting a weekend as a Grand Prix driver for the first time. It was also my first time driving in Brazil; I found that the track is good fun for a driver and also very challenging. Our work went well; just the weather wasn't perfect with the showers which meant the track surface was not consistent. That made it difficult to properly judge the set-up and also to fully learn each corner because the conditions were changing during the sessions. In the end I found a good rhythm and the car felt competitive so it was a good day for me. There are still things we can improve and I'll be working hard with my engineers to prepare properly for my first Formula 1 qualifying sessions. I'm really looking forward to it and I'm confident."
Dieter Gass, Chief Engineer Race and Test: "Overall it has been quite a good start to the weekend for us despite the difficult conditions all day. The drizzle in both sessions was not ideal but nevertheless we did pretty much all the work we wanted to; we just had to adapt the programme a bit to account for the weather. The two tyre compounds behaved largely as we expected, with no problems although the option proved to be a little better than we thought over a long run. Especially considering the difficult track conditions, Kamui's performance is even more impressive on a track he hadn't driven before today. We can only be pleased with how he performed. As usual we now have to look carefully at the data and fine-tune the set-up to get the most out of the car for the rest of the weekend."
Robert Kubica - 12th: "Today, we tried different downforce levels and completed some long runs in preparation for the race. However, it was very difficult to get reliable results because on several occasions it was drizzling, and the conditions were changing frequently during the two sessions."
Nick Heidfeld - 15th: "We changed the car a lot after the first session when it really wasn't good at all. The changes definitely meant an improvement, but the balance isn't yet as I would like it to be. We still have some work to do. The track is better than expected, so I can't complain about any changes for the worse since last year. There are still bumps, of course, but nothing to worry about."
Willy Rampf (Head of Engineering): "As far as the track conditions are concerned, this was a mixed Friday for all teams. Again and again light rain falling made the set-up work difficult. We concentrated on race preparation and drove with different aerodynamic configurations. For tomorrow we will concentrate on qualifying. There is still work to do."
Sebastien Buemi, P1 - 1:13.503, 13th; P2 - 1:12.357, 2nd
"I am happy that we seemed quite competitive in the afternoon, after the mechanics did a very good job to rebuild the car after my accident this morning. I came up fast behind Liuzzi, who was going slowly on the racing line and in trying to avoid him, I went over the kerb, lost control and spun. I think we showed good speed, even though this is my first time driving this circuit. Now we have a solid basis on which to improve tomorrow, after studying all the data. Todays session shows that our pace in Japan was not just a one-off. So, I am quite confident for the rest of the weekend."
Jaime Alguersuari, P1 - 1:14.040, 19th; P2 - 1:13.041, 19th
"I enjoyed my first day at this circuit, which has a nice mix of high speed and slower corners that make it fun to drive and overall, practice went quite well, even though it was tricky when the track was a bit damp. I am still learning and getting up to speed. There is still room to improve the car set-up, especially on the softer tyre, but its already pretty good."
Nico Rosberg, P1 - 1:13.147, 8th; P2 - 1:12.633, 8th
“Today was all about tyre testing for qualifying and the race. We know roughly what we will do but it’s not entirely clear for the race; that will depend on how much the track improves. We also spent time looking at our downforce level but it’s always difficult and sometimes you need to compromise because, on the one hand, you want to find the quickest lap possible but, on the other, you need to be careful that people are not able to overtake you on the straight. Set-up wise, we just carried out some fine tuning. I don’t think there’s much to improve on that front for this track. Overall, we’ve had a good day’s work and we are where we need to be.”
Kazuki Nakajima, P1 - 1:13.067, 6th; P2 - 1:12.929, 14th
“The weather was quite tricky today but, fortunately, we still managed to get some running in under dry conditions. We worked through quite a lot of things and we know in which direction we want to head for tomorrow now. Whenever I was out on my new tyres, it started to drizzle so I didn’t get to record a good lap time today.”
Rod Nelson, Williams’ chief operations engineer:
“As usual, we covered our standard Friday programme; looking at car balance, qualifying set-up and some longer race runs with heavier fuel. Obviously, the first session was somewhat upset by the rain. There was more rain in the morning session than we expected and then less than we had anticipated this afternoon, but it didn’t affect us too much.”
Heikki Kovalainen, P2 - 1:12.989, 4th; P2 - 1:12.992, 17th
“A productive day. The times may not necessarily show it, but we’ve made some good progress today. We followed a disciplined programme, focusing on our race pace and evaluating both tyre compounds. Our pace on both tyres appears to be very good and we suffered very limited degradation, so I think our race pace will be good.”
Lewis Hamilton, P1 - 1:13.048, 5th; P2 - 1:12.749, 10th
“We had a good Friday. We’re not the fastest, but our long runs appear to be quite consistent. We’re not as quick as the Red Bulls, but, for Brazil - where we haven’t traditionally been quick - we’re quite happy with the pace we have. In the past, we’ve always been quick in qualifying but not as quick in the race. KERS is worth close to four tenths in quali and around half that in the race, so I’m optimistic for tomorrow afternoon and think the consistency we showed today will reward us in the race.”
Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal:
“Firstly, it’s a great feeling to be back in Brazil, and, in particular, here at Interlagos. This circuit holds some very happy memories for the whole team, and they came flooding back this morning once the sessions started. Interlagos hasn’t normally been a circuit where our race pace has been strong, but today’s running has certainly showed a remarkable level of consistency, which we are confident will carry over into the race on Sunday. Today’s times also show that the pace of both Red Bulls looks very strong, but we believe we’ll have a competitive racing car for this weekend.”
Norbert Haug, vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport:
“Not a bad day. We’ve been posting quick and consistent lap times in our race simulations. Lewis in 10th position was a little less than three tenths slower than Rubens Barrichello in third, and the three world championship contenders did similar lap times to Lewis. All 20 cars are separated by less than a second on their fastest laps, so it’s closer than ever in Formula One. I’m not too concerned about our positions in today’s rankings. Tomorrow and on Sunday, we hopefully should be as competitive as in the last races, but of course there is always room for improvement.”
