Q: What were your expectations coming here and what are your explanations for the speed you have now?
MS: It is a little bit of a surprise to us, honestly, as it has been a big surprise to be as slow as we have been recently. We have obviously changed the tyres substantially and it seems to pay off. We might have to find out if it is just a combination of many things, where this circuit suits the car and the tyres and everything or if that is a general trend. That is to be established, but I am pretty confident. There was no reason not to believe in Ferrari’s return, in a way, and it is a great result for all of us, it gives a lot of motivation to everyone, a lot of pleasure to everyone. It was too much time ago.

Q: And obviously a great place to start what will be a long, hot race.
MS: Yes, honestly a lot of people put a lot of emphasis on the start position but I don’t do as much as it is important to be on the right side of the circuit, rather than to be on right side, because that could not work in the race. Otherwise the strategy is more important than your grid position and hopefully we have the right one.

Q: Michael, is this the beginning of the big Ferrari return for the rest of the season?
MS: From our point of view we hope so. It is one step in the right direction. Tomorrow is a long race, we obviously want to do well in the race to confirm all the hard work and good work we have been doing so far and then we will see how we go from there.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Michael, you mentioned you were a little surprised by that.
MS: I have been surprised by the gap in the end. It wasn’t expecting to be this big and I am not surprised that we were able to fight for pole position but as I said I expected it to be a bit tighter. Obviously, one was out of the game, because Kimi had to go early so he was not in best shape.

Q: You mentioned you made changes. Were they any since last weekend?
MS: Obviously we have a new tyre here, and that is the main factor. The car is the same as last weekend.

Q: Sometimes this has been regarded as something of a Bridgestone circuit.
MS: Yeah, two years ago we were lapped, you are right!

Q: Maybe not two years ago then, but other times it has been.
MS: I mean, the point is that if it goes well it goes well or it goes completely the other way because, if certain things are not working well, you work very hard but nothing comes around.

Q: Were you encouraged yesterday already?
MS: Yes. For Rubens’ results we saw that not only we had a good one lap but we had good consistency and even this morning again we made a good improvement to the car in handling and I am pretty happy.

Q: What about the heat, is that a bit of a worry?
MS: No. Malaysia was probably worse in that respect.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Adrian Rodriguez Huber – Agencia EFE) Michael, congratulations. I believe you said that to fight for the World Championship didn’t make any sense any more this year. Could your goal now be the record of pole positions, because that’s one of the few ones you don’t have yet and now you’re just one away from Senna’s record?
MS: Well, it is the same procedure as always because this is not really what drives me. It is a nice side-effect to have that, but if it happens it happens, if not, not. It’s more important to win a championship or a race.

Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Michael, when was the point this weekend when you realised you would have a chance to fight for the pole here?
MS: Basically seeing the lap times and comparing our lap times against the other guys. On Friday we had some indication but it was clearer today.

Q: (Philippe Joubin – L’Equipe) Michael and Jarno, will you be at the meeting with Mr Mosley. What do you expect from this meeting?
MS: To have a good conversation and clarify certain points which we think we want to raise.

Q: (Philippe Joubin – L’Equipe) But which points exactly?
MS: We invite you and then you can find out.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Michael, in the last Grand Prix in Germany, you had problems with your tyres at the end of the race. Do you have any indication that you have tyres to finish the race in good condition?
MS: Yes, obviously. We want to finish the race competitively. It didn’t work out in Hockenheim but I think neither of the solutions we had available in Hockenheim worked out, neither Rubens nor I were particularly great at any stage. But it is different this weekend, very different.

Q: (Peter Farkas – Auto Motor) To all the drivers, obviously they’ve laid that green artificial grass or whatever you call it on the outside of the corners near the kerbs and it seems to be very slippery, especially at turn four. Do you think it is dangerous?
MS: No, it is what we want. It is better than grass, gravel or whatever. This is at least pretty consistent, flat, you can control the car. It’s the best solution we have found. We are happy to listen to any further good suggestions you may have but we haven’t found anything better.

Q: (Adrian Rodriguez Huber – Agencia EFE) Michael, this used to be business as usual for you in the years before, but how would you describe this moment. Is this the happiest moment of the season for you or was it at Indianapolis?
MS: No, this is a happier situation than we had, honestly, yes. Because to be on pole is one thing, to do it with such a time margin to the others is another thing, to be very optimistic concerning the race is a third item, so it all makes us very happy, but on the other side it’s just qualifying. So the race is still to be done.

Q: (Dusko Dragic - Ekipa) To all the drivers, how do you like the new suggestions for qualifying next year?
MS: The main thing I keep saying is that there will not be any fix which will satisfy everyone. Unfortunately we all have different opinions and one likes one way, and the other one likes another way, spectators, drivers, team owners, whoever. The worst thing we can do is to keep on changing. That’s the only thing I can say about that.

Q: Will you be mentioning your preference to Max in your conversations?
MS: There is no point going into details of what we want to discuss or what we don’t want to discuss.

Q: (Dusko Dragic - Ekipa) What about the GPDA letting the fans decide about qualifying? Has the GPDA had something to say about it, letting the fans decide which qualifying system is going to be in use next year?
MS: I think the GPDA is pretty happy as long as things are safe. That’s the main concern of the GPDA. Beyond that, if we have a good point I feel we will always be listened to and we have had many good points in the past and good points will be suggested and the other ones not.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Considering you’re talking about safety, are you happy with the run-off area at turn 12 here?
MS: Yeah, I think it is a pretty good job, actually. They have six rows of tyres, two rows with a gap. It should be working quite well, by far better than anything we have in Monaco anyway.