Q: What about the gearbox? There were some worries about the gearbox and it does suffer here over the kerbs. Are there worries about that?
MS: No, the kerbs, anyway, don’t make worries to the gearbox. We have had a few situations which strangely enough, did not seem to appear during testing but I think we understood that and sorted it.

Q: So you’re quite confident that you’re not going to have the reliability problems from Bahrain.
MS: As confident as you can be with a Formula One car, honestly. A Formula One car is a prototype and it might stop at any point in any day. It hasn’t been doing that for a long long time for me. In Bahrain I stopped because of a problem with last year’s part but they can still fail at certain times but I think we have a good record and we shouldn’t be too concerned.

Q: You’ve said that your championship really begins here…
MS: In a way I haven’t done too much so far. Coming here to Imola with the preparation we have been doing, we are reasonable confident that we can fight back.

Q: Can you clear up the story about the discussions with Jean Todt concerning the extension to your contract? Is that the case?
MS: You have to put it from the start. The question was does Ferrari talk about Fernando. I said that from my point of view, they talk less about Fernando rather than Jean having conversations in private relationship about my future. These are more the subject than talk about other drivers.

Q: So you are actually in discussion about an extension to your contract.
MS: I have had a private chat, we are not in discussions. It is quite open to me about when and what time I want to extend my contract. I think it’s the best situation I can live in. I have open doors any time I want to take a decision I’m welcome to do so and the team supports that.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Dusko Dragic - Ekipa) How much satisfaction do you get out of helping people by donating money, as you did for the Tsunami, and then when you stop and help someone at the side of the road, when the person knows who has helped them, the difference between helping someone individually as opposed to putting a lot of money into a fund?
MS: What can I say, it has been a long time back that I have thought about this and in 1990 I won two races behind each other in Formula Three and got quite high prize money. And while I was about to win this race, that was my thought, what I was going to do with this money, who I could help with this money. So, ever since then I try to help other people who have difficulties. There is always, if you look amongst your friendships, initially there are always a lot of people you can help in your family and after that it goes beyond that. It is a good satisfaction seeing the smile of kids you have helped. I have been in Sarajevo, with kids together, in other places, it’s nice.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Michael, can you talk a bit about Bahrain? Obviously, you retired early, what sort of shape are you in, specifically the tyres, and how do you think you would have been over the last ten laps of the race? How was that weekend for you?
MS: I think the weekend certainly was better than I expected it to be after the Malaysia experience. I think it is fair to say that I would have had some sort of problem like Rubens had, but how extreme it would have been is an open point, because starting from the back of the field and working your way through uses your tyres in a different way than I was doing behind Fernando, I didn’t have to work too hard behind him, just go a nice and steady pace without pushing the tyres, but it is difficult to say how bad it would have been for me because there would have been a point at some stage before the first pit stop and I think I could have taken action against the big drama that we had with Rubens at the end, but where it would have put me in the end, my feeling is I still would have been on the podium.

Q: (Thierry Tassin – RTBF Belgian TV) Michael, just going back to Bahrain, you were right behind Alonso, what were the good points of the Renault for the first three Grands Prix?
MS: Probably the point that after Malaysia where we were so far away we saw in Bahrain where we were back and we can fight those guys. It is not out of our reach any more.

Q: (Thierry Tassin – RTBF Belgian TV) What are the strong points of the Renault?
MS: I think they have not one particular strong point. As it has always been for me as well in the past, there is not one thing only that is a reason for success, it is a package, it goes through the car, the tyres, the engine and everything. Everything has to be right and they have managed to do a very good job on that.

Q: (Luciano Clerico - ANSA) Michael, you are German, the new Pope is German, what does it mean for you and for Germany?
MS: Put it this way, for me it is not so important that I am German, the new Pope is German and what does it mean for Germany because who is the Pope? The Pope is a person who looks after the whole world, and whether he is German or whatever nationality, I don’t think that is important. Certainly, for me, I am an international person myself and for me it’s not about nationality but who the person is.

Q: (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) Michael, following on from the question about talks earlier, what are the factors that would encourage you to continue?
MS: What I have right now. I have said this many times. My love for the sport is so high that I still like to continue, but I don’t see any reason to fix myself too early.

Q: (Bob McKenzie – The Daily Express) When do you actually need to begin talking to Jean Todt?
MS: That was what I was just trying to say before, they leave it open for me. Open means open.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) Michael, just continuing on that theme, as I recall you have actually said what you love about racing is winning, as distinct from the sport in general. When you are not winning, and I am sure you will be winning, we all hope you will be winning again soon, but when you are not winning and you have to fight from the midfield, do you enjoy your life as much as a Formula One driver?
MS: If I can fight my way through from the middle of the field to the back of the field, that wouldn’t be the thing I would want to do, that is pretty certain, yes.

Q: (Peter Windsor – F1 Racing) What about the racing at the moment?
MS: That’s pretty nice. That’s a challenge. You can see ahead, we have a chance to win.

Q: (Byron Young – Speed Sport News) Michael, can you see yourself driving for Ferrari to the end of your career, whether it is a couple of years or ten years?
MS: Yes.

Q: (Byron Young – Speed Sport News) Sorry, can you just say why? Is it the comfort factor, obviously as we said just now…
MS: I think it is very obvious why I want to do this. It is much more than comfort. It goes beyond many things, it is difficult for you to imagine maybe. There are a lot of good people around.

Q: (Byron Young – Speed Sport News) Sorry, is it the support you get from the team, they back you up, the effort they put into Grand Prix racing, all those things?
MS: It is a bit of everything, and even more.