Q: It was, by any standards, a fantastic lap in those conditions. Can you talk us through it?
MS: It was actually not so fantastic. I struggled a little bit right at the top of the hill into turn five, I got a little bit sideways, I lost grip there, I lost a couple of tenths and then up towards the end, it got a little bit tricky and as you saw that the conditions seemed to favour to be a little bit quicker in the last sector and I didn’t have the traction out of the last corner any more compared with what those guys had and that’s what cost us the time, but I don’t think we need to complain, because for the conditions, to still be in that position, I’m pretty happy. It was a nice lap for that, and we can do everything from there one.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Michael given that you were on extreme weather tyres for the conditions and these guys were on wet weather tyres for their conditions and they felt it was suitable, it was a pretty remarkable performance for you to be on the front row…
MS: Yeah in a way it is. That is why I am not complaining or feeling sad. I’m actually quite happy to be where I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Q: In pre-qualifying, if you look at that as well, you were first to go and no one beat your time even though it was dry the whole way through – it didn’t rain…
MS: At a certain point unless it gets really dry and you get to use different tyres, it doesn’t really get quicker. There is a point were you can lose because the tyres get too hot and so on.

Q: You mentioned a problem in the third sector, because you were well up when you got to the end of the second sector…
MS: There wasn’t anything wrong, it was just that when the line is a bit drier and you use the tyres that Jarno used then you have better braking grip and better traction and you can keep better speed through the last chicane and that was where I was lacking. I didn’t have that grip available as the conditions were the way they were and I lost the four-tenths in the last chicane honestly.

Q: Lining up tomorrow surrounded by fast-starting Renaults. How much does that worry you?
MS: I think we know they are good in starts, but equally we have had very good starts too. We will find out how much our starts work tomorrow.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Ottavio Daviddi - Tuttosport) For the three drivers. How difficult was it to approach the qualifying considering you had just 15 minutes of practice?
MS: For me it is a little bit difficult, but as we had the practice this morning it is not a problem honestly. After that you know roughly where you have to drive and it is okay.