Q: Well, Jenson was on a quick lap and went off at turn nine just before you went out. Did that change your thinking in any way on your approach to the lap?
MS: Put it this way, I knew that I had put in a very good first and second sector and that meant that I was able to just be safe in the last sector and not overdo anything. It’s very easy to make a mistake, especially into turn ten. But I don’t think it did cost a lot and I just had a very nice and perfect lap.

Q: Well, they say this is a very technical circuit, a lot of testing is done here over the winter, and yet the Ferrari package still looks brilliant. Different from the other circuits, but still right there…
MS: A bit surprising honestly, because we saw and followed the testing of BAR and we were very impressed by their pace – obviously we won’t find out what Jenson could have done, but all weekend they were very strong so to be where we are and to be that much up front (ahead of) those guys is a bit of a surprise, but we’ll happily take it.

Q: Michael, what are your thoughts on that run down to the first corner and Juan Pablo? Does that incident at Imola carry through now?
MS: Not to me. We had an interesting fight at Imola and we will find out whether we have one again tomorrow but it’s part of racing, to have a battle, and to have a tight business. I’ve no problems with that, to have another one.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Michael, you are obviously delighted to be on pole position but it was by a huge margin. Were you expecting that?
MS: I guess we will not find out what it would have been had Jenson got a good lap in. The margin maybe would have been less, but we got a very good run in. I was a little bit surprised seeing the sectors and everything. The circuit was very different in the first qualifying compared to this morning so I was very disappointed, honestly, then it all seemed to come back with cleaning up the circuit.

Q: How difficult has it been to set up the car during the last couple of days?
MS: It has been a little bit difficult because the wind direction has changed various times but it was easier probably compared to last year. Last year we were struggling a lot more with our car to get it right.

Q: How much of a threat did you feel BAR were and what influence has that had on your strategy?
MS: The threat from BAR was very high because we had seen their testing times, we have seen all weekend how competitive they were, so we were warned very much. I don’t think it had a huge effect on our strategy, because there is only so much you do with the strategy, and we sort of looked on our side what was best for us and tried to deal with that in view of those guys.

Q: I know you don’t necessarily look at your record at a circuit but it is phenomenal at this track. Is it a track you actually like?
MS: It is a track I like, a lot of high-speed corners, and I think you really should complement the circuit in terms of the safety improvements they have done at turn ten. Otherwise, it is a circuit where I have been running since I have been in Formula One, which ultimately makes, maybe, the record look better than at some circuits where I haven’t been so often.

Q: Just going to turn 10, is that going to have more of an influence on the race itself, do you think? Is there going to be more overtaking there?
MS: It could be, because it is very easy to put maybe someone under pressure and drive him into a mistake and if you do a mistake you run wide, you lose a lot of time, so there could be some interesting overtaking manoeuvres tomorrow.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Matthias Brunner – Motosport Aktuell) Michael, you said the track changed quite a bit from free practice this morning to the first qualifying session - in what respect?
MS: I think a bit of everything, honestly. Wind and temperature but mainly as well the grid from, probably the series that runs between us, put some dust on the circuit I guess.

Q: (Benni Casadei Lucchi – Il Giornale) Question for Michael and Juan Pablo, what do you expect from each other tomorrow, starting from the first corner?
JPM: Some racing, perhaps, hopefully.
MS: Exactly.