Q: They say this circuit sorts the men from the boys; is that still the case?
RB: When I used to race Formula Opel here, we used to be in these garages here below us and we could quite clearly see the Formula One cars going by and at the time, Senna was racing with Berger in the McLaren team, and Berger was quite clearly flat through the corner (Eau Rouge) and Senna wasn’t at all, yet by the end of the lap, Senna was a second faster than Berger. So it’s something that is true but is not. Eau Rouge is a corner where you lose very little by not taking it flat, but the combination of corners over the whole circuit makes it very special.

Q: Is it a buzz, a rush that you feel here, which makes it so exciting?
RB: It used to be, but when the cars began to improve it became easier and easier. Back in ’93, ’94 it was quite difficult to do it (Eau Rouge) flat. Nowadays, I don’t know how the corner at the back (Blanchimont) is, but it used to be more scary because you know that… it’s just like the old Tamburello, you know that if you do just take it flat normally you have no problems, but if you have some sort of a problem, it might just hurt. So it used to grab your attention more than here (Eau Rouge).

Q: What about the new Bus Stop; have you had a look at that?
RB: No. I had the chance to see a race on TV but not personally. I have to go there and have a look.

Q: They’re worried about it being less of an overtaking place than it was; does that worry you?
RB: Well, it used to be very difficult to overtake already. You had to attack the kerbs. You could overtake there but you might lose the nose or something. I have to get there and have a look but on the TV it looks as if you go more to the right before you come to the left. It looks very slow as well. I don’t know, it’s tough to overtake there. You have to make the braking, to open wide, just to make it as late as possible.

Q: And what about the chances of wet weather here?
RB: I guess 100 percent, isn’t it? It’s always like this. The only thing I would say is that we should pray that it’s wet or dry, because here, normally, it rains for a couple of corners and not for the rest, so that’s the most important thing, because travelling with slicks in the wet could be quite dangerous.

Q: It’s a circuit you’ve been quite successful at.
RB: Yes, in Formula Three, Formula 3000 and Formula Opel and Formula One. It’s where I scored my first pole position back in 1994. It is a circuit I like. Whenever you like something you do quite well. It’s the 700th anniversary of Ferrari in terms of races, so hopefully we can have a good weekend.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Stan Piecha - The Sun) Rubens, Michael only needs to beat you by two points this weekend and he’s got his seventh title. Are you going to make it easy for him, or make him wait until Monza?
RB: I hope I can make him wait until Brazil to be honest. And if we get there, then I hope he can wait until next year, but you know, in all honestly I think we have to be realistic about the chances. I still haven’t beaten him fair and square this year, as I managed to do so many times last year. But you know, my life is all about positives, it’s all about being focused and doing my job. It is a place that I like very much. He’s had a phenomenal year altogether, as much as I had, in terms of finishing. I’m not winning, so I’m looking for that win, yet again, over here. Hopefully we can just get going. I don’t mind too much about thinking of the championship but I would love to win the race here.