Q: Did you ever feel you could match Kimi's race pace when you had a clear road?
RB: Well, he opened up a big gap while I was chasing the others but, when there was nobody ahead, I think he was a little bit faster. The story would have been different if we were ahead, but behind was a different situation.

Q: Rubens, early on, you had a bit of a battle with Heidfeld as well. How difficult was that?
RB: We had quite good straight line speed as well. The set-up of the car was fantastic. It was just that we fell back during the first lap so I had to catch up. When you follow another car, you lose quite a bit of time. But I had a trouble free race. I could overtake them with no problem. When I was running by myself I could almost do the same times but I could see that Kimi was pulling away a little bit but I was still trying. The strategy was good; it was just unfortunate that on the first lap we were not in a good position because I think our strategy was fantastic.

Q: So how did it work out that you found yourself in that position after the first/second corner incident?
RB: I was running with no trouble. I saw that Coulthard had a good start, was running quite well. I don't know if he had a run on Trulli or what. But I was running almost alongside Michael and, all of a sudden, when I started turning into the corner, there was a car spinning and he was coming closer to myself, so I had to take avoiding action. Then I saw Trulli going really wide. I had to brake to come back in and by that time, a lot of cars had gone by. I was lucky that I didn't touch anyone, but there were a lot of flying bits from other cars. I saw Montoya was running with no rear wing, so it was pretty tough on the first lap.

Q: How exhausting did you find the race?
RB: I feel quite prepared. It's something that I've been training for quite a lot, although I had my back pain problem and had to rest for 20 days before Melbourne, I feel that I'm up to it. I was pushing the whole time. After the second pit-stop, when I was in front of Alonso, I developed a small misfire and it was three or four laps talking to the team and they came back to me saying that if I could push and get close to Kimi it would be good. Otherwise just hold the position.

Q: You were allowed not to use the HANS device by the FIA - on what grounds?
RB: I must thank the stewards very much for not having to use it. I developed a little problem on the nerve on my back and Sid Watkins approved me, he checked me and approved that. Because I cannot get tight enough inside the car, my bottom is moving inside of the car because of the HANS and I have a little hernia which is quite painful so they allowed me not to? Because it wasn't something that I hadn't tried from the start, I've been trying very hard since Friday and Saturday and because it was painful, they allowed me to run without it. Next week, hopefully, we're going to have these two seat belts which is probably going to give me the fitting that I need in the seat. It will probably solve my problem, hopefully.

Q: What do you mean by two seat belts?
RB: It's the same system that David [Coulthard] has on the car. He has one that, as far as I know, pulls you in, very tight to the car. And one on the top of the HANS that allows you to run both.

Questions from the floor:

Q: A little question to Rubens. Rubens, next race, obviously at home. From what you've seen so far, what can you do there?
RB: We knew that Michelin would be quite competitive here. We felt we had a good package. The car was running quite nicely. I have no complaints. I think the team did a superb job with the strategy. The Bridgestone tyre was running fantastically well. It could have been different if it was not for the first lap, but there was now way, so I'm quite happy with the situation. Brazil is going to be quite a hot race as well, but I'm feeling quite optimistic for my home race.

Q: Rubens, were you surprised when you had your own race under the same conditions as McLaren and you saw that he was a little faster than you?
RB: Yes, you're always surprised because we showed such domination last year and we feel that we could always win a race, but it was the same story as last year. I was winning the race from Ralf and I couldn't really be quicker than they were here in Malaysia. So I guess they do a good job here but, as I said, with the package and the circumstances of the first lap, I'm quite happy. I think we've done a good job.

Q: This is for Rubens Barrichello. Are you happy that there are no more team orders, Rubens?
RB: I was hoping for that question! [laughter] I'm just happy that we have the three youngest guys here on the podium [more laughter]. I feel very happy about it.

Q: Rubens, what is your opinion about Fernando [laughter]?
RB: The bastard beat me as the youngest scorer, so...I'm very happy. I think both are future world champions. I just hope I can win the world championship before them!