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US GP 14th-17th June 2007 - Friday Press Conference

Length: 4.192 km
Number of Laps: 73 (306.016 Km)
Best Lap: R. Barrichello- 1'10''399 (2004, Ferrari)
Record Pole: R. Barrichello - 1'10''233 (2004, Williams)
2006 Pole: M. Schumacher - 1'10''832 (Ferrari)
2006 Podium: M. Schumacher - F. Massa - G. Fisichella

Q: A question to all of you: your thoughts on safety in Formula One following last weekend’s accident in the Canadian Grand Prix.
Stefano DOMENICALI: Well, I think that what we have seen during the last Canadian Grand Prix showed how safety has improved in the last years. This is thanks to the FIA together with all the teams. You have to think that an accident like that a couple of years ago, well, maybe we would be in a different situation. On one side, for sure, that’s one conclusion. That shows one thing: that we shouldn’t forget that this sport is always very dangerous, so we don’t have to drop the attention on safety. One of the main things, for sure, is that we have to keep up that pressure, together with the FIA, to give as much maximum effort in that respect because it’s so crucial, and this is for sure what we have seen in the last Grand Prix.

Q: Stefano, Kimi has had a difficult start to the season in many ways. Do you feel that he’s now becoming more confident?
SD: Well, I’m pretty sure that the answer is yes. The more he has the chance and the time to drive, the more he learns how to enter the new situation, the new car, the new tyres and the relationship with the team. So I'm pretty positive that for sure this is a very important event for him and also for the team, and I'm pretty sure we will see the real Kimi very, very soon.

Q: Now, last weekend wasn't a fantastic weekend for the team, but you were looking for increased performance here. This is very much a Ferrari circuit. Have you found that today?
SD: For sure the last Grand Prix was not the best one. It was really bad, but we don't have to panic on that. We have had a season where after the sixth Grand Prix we worked through races for pole position. We didn't have, in a lot of circumstances, a great race in Canada and also Monte Carlo. Here for sure, looking at the situation over the last years, it was a good track for us. We know that our main competitor is McLaren Mercedes who have done a great job but I think today the situation has improved. We have done a good job in terms of learning, in terms of understanding the situation of the setup and the tyres here. So that will be positive for sure.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) Stefano, could you tell us a little bit about what Michael Schumacher is contributing and doing within the team right now?
SD: Michael is part of our team. You have seen sometimes that he is at the races but that is not the main role and the main activity that he has. He's working with us and mainly with us and with our engineers in order to give his advice, his contribution to the way that he knows how to work around the car. This is something connected to F1 but he has also an important role on the other side of the factory on the road cars. His experience is very important in tuning up the cars for our customers.

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