Q: Was third place perhaps as good as you were going to get this weekend?
MS: Yup, but if you see, we came in on the same lap so in terms of competition in qualifying, it was what it was, it was very close. The only exception was Kimi being up front there with quite a bit heavier a car. Then they just chose from this moment on to go to a two stop whereas we chose a three stop which obviously moved us ahead.

Q: But do you think third place was about right for you this weekend or do you think that with an easier first phase of the race maybe you could have been second?
MS: Well, if you look at the speed we have had, then clearly I have to say that third place was about the maximum. If our strategy would have worked perfectly we could have been in front of Kimi due to the situation he was in his race but our race didn’t go perfectly, so that was the way it was.

Q: Mechanically the car looked good. We saw a bit of smoke coming from a front tyre at one point, not sure if that was a lock-up or not?
MS: Yeah, yeah, had a few lock-ups and had a nice moment in turn three as well, going a bit wide but otherwise it was OK.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Michael, you had quite a lively race – held up by Jarno and then Juan Pablo and then you had Giancarlo behind you as well…
MS: Yeah. It was all about, except with Jarno, being on different strategies at different times and as well, at the end, Fisichella who was behind in a light car, putting some pressure and trying to get by, but it was not really that close honestly.

Q: And the last lap, you were very slow. You almost had two slowing down laps. There wasn’t a problem on the last lap was there?
MS: No. I mean Fernando was right behind me and there was no car between him and me so whether I would have stopped or not stopped, it wouldn’t have mattered, my situation was fixed at that stage so I just took it easy.

Q: In the early stages, did you think he was on a multi-stop strategy, the way he was pulling away?
MS: No. I mean it was pretty clear, I was held up and anyway we knew from the lap times in free practice that they had very good pace. We were hoping to match that, but we couldn’t prove and when we could prove we actually didn’t match it completely.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ottavio Daviddi - Tuttosport) Michael did you expect your Ferrari to be more competitive?
MS: I am not really able to say how competitive we have been today because I haven’t watched the lap times when I was free compared to the lap times the other guys were doing. I know it wouldn’t have been enough, but not by how much and what is maybe the consequence so excuse me if I am not able to make a proper conclusion yet.

Q: (Juha Paatalo – Financial Times Germany) Michael what do you think are your chances in the drivers’ championship?
MS: I guess if you take a calculator, take the number of races, the number of points available you can give it a percentage. I am not quick enough to calculate that for you now but that is the way I see it. As long as mathematically there is an opportunity, whatever the percentage, we go for it.