Q: Michael, the same thing in 1999, maybe not thinking about retiring but just thinking about everything when you’re away from the cockpit for so long.
MS: I don’t think you think so much about everything. You just think when you are going to be ready to drive next, that’s what you have mainly in focus, because when you have had an accident you have to be a certain time in hospital, you see your muscles going away so you get concerned, you think about your training and it’s all about focusing to get ready for the next time you’re ready to race. And that doesn’t leave you a lot of time or maybe you don’t want to think about other things because that’s what is the priority to think about.

Q: Michael, the relationship between you and Jacques Villeneuve was not always really good, but I hear that things are now quite nice and smooth between you. Can you tell us a bit about that?
MS: So far we have only spoke through the press to each other. I have not met him yet at all. Put it this way, the past is the past and now we are living in maybe a different situation and maybe we have a chance to get on better.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Beniamino Natale - Ansa) Michael, what motivation do you have to win this race?
MS: To beat the others.

Q: (Richard Williams – The Guardian) Michael, could you be a bit more specific please about what makes this circuit different to the other Tilke circuits and what features seen on the evidence so far to offer an interesting challenge to the driver?
MS: Simply a different architecture of circuit, corner combinations. Like Turn One and Turn 13, with a long straight getting into such a tight hairpin. I don’t know if we have that elsewhere. I don’t imagine we do. There’s slight banking in Turn 13 and it is quite interesting to see because if you see Turn One, Two, then suddenly you get into this tight business at Three, it’s all very different, for me at least. Very challenging, because you can make a lot of mistakes but at the same time you can make up a lot of time. So that’s probably, from our point of view, very different. I didn’t explain it enough, but you can see it enough.

Q: (Richard Williams) Where do you think your main overtaking opportunities are?
MS: Mainly towards Turn 13 I would think, but because it is very easy to go off line here and you can make mistakes, as happened to me today, then you can be overtaken quickly.

Q: (Bob Constanduros) If I can follow up on that, it looks as though it was very bumpy at the end of the back straight here going into the tight corner, is that a concern for you guys?
MS: No, it’s not.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi) Michael, did you expect to be so far from the top today, what is the picture for Ferrari after the first day?
MS: If you look at the time difference, I think Rubens was three tenths off what Jenson is, so we are pretty much all close together. Usually I may be up front but for whatever reason we are not today and I’m pretty sure we will find solutions to that.

Q: (Matthias Brunner – Motorsport Aktuell) Michael, what happened to your car this morning?
MS: We had a software issue that stopped the car.

Q: (Frank Schneider – Abendzeitung) Michael, you have spent quite a few days here in China. What is your impression of the Chinese fans? How do they treat you?
MS: They are quite enthusiastic about Formula One as far as I can see from the fans I have had contact with. It’s quite good to see, coming to a new country with such an impressive set-up and see that the emotion and interest in our sport is there in the way it is, so it’s quite positive.

Q: (Yi Lu – China Radio International) All three drivers, we saw some drivers off track today. What do you think of the difficulty of the circuit and the safety of the drivers?
MS: Exactly. It just needs to have a good clean-up after the first proper usage and then it should improve each day. Safety, anyway, is not a problem as far as I could see.

Q: (Alain Pernot) Does Michael share the same opinion about less testing?
MS: Yep.

Q: (Andrea Cremonesi) Michael, if Ferrari had to run a third car, do you believe that it is possible that there is some chance to see Valentino Rossi in the third red car? (Laughter)
MS: Interesting thought. I think he liked very much his experience. But there are too many ifs, anyway.

Q: (Frank Schneider) For Michael, this is the first racing day ever in China for Formula One but there are hardly any spectators at the circuit, what do you think about that Michael?
MS: As far as I have heard the circuit is sold out for Sunday. We have seen very often this year that people keep the main focus for race day and I guess that is why we have not seen so many today. Let’s see what happens over the weekend.

Q: I would like to ask you about the track but first of all can I ask you about the sights you have seen. When did you arrive in China? What did you see? What have you done? What do you think of Shanghai? What do you think of China? What do you think of the people?
Rubens BARRICHELLO: I quite like the city as well. I have been here since Wednesday. It’s modern, it’s beautiful, we have been visiting some places. But like Juan Pablo said, it is difficult to get out of the hotel because of the traffic. They say Brazilian drivers are good because of the traffic - they should have many drivers here. They should be all in Formula One! Unbelievable!

Q: Can you tell us a bit more about the track, the overtaking spots and so on?
RB: I quite enjoyed it as well. The first time out it is always a bit slippery because nobody has been out, but it is a good layout, the shape of turn 13 is quite good and will provide some overtaking down to the end of the straight, there are a lot of good points as well on set-up, because there is a mix that you can do, such as Indianapolis. For example, you have a long straight but you have so many other corners that you have to go fast, so quite a good track in all respects.

Q: Rubens, Monza was a fabulous race for you and you seemed to raise both yourself and the car to a new level, especially around the time of that third pit stop. It seems that other times this year you haven’t reached that level. What was different in Monza and maybe can you continue that for the last three races?
RB: To be very honest I think nothing was different. The attention of everyone, not the team, but everyone, seems to change a bit on to my side because the championship was over and people were like ‘okay, now it is time for Rubens to win’. I was driving the same, I didn’t do anything wrong, it was magic, the fact that I had the speed to overcome the problems of being behind and putting myself onto a three stop was good enough, so, I just pushed as hard as I could, the set-up was good, but it was some other times in the year as well, so nothing was different. I am not driving better because the championship is over, that’s for sure.

Q: You have had so much bad luck at the Brazilian Grand Prix over the years, we are going back there at the end of the season for a change. Are you feeling the pressure already mounting to do well in front of your own fans?
RB: First of all, I don’t believe in bad luck. I believe that so many things happened, human errors or other things that happened anyway, that cost me finishes in the Brazilian GP. I finished only my second Grand Prix in Brazil, in 1994, which was a fourth place, so I think Monza was a really good pre-qualifying, that’s how I put it, because the tifosi were there, some of the pressure from the Ferrari fans and the pressure of being home was a good pre-qualifier of me getting to Brazil. Being the last race is good because the car is very reliable, as we know, so that is one factor less. Anything can happen in any of the races, but to be the last race you have more reliability than the first race. And with the speed of the car and so on we are going to Brazil with a good realistic chance of winning the race. And if I could win in Brazil, I guess I would be happier than winning the whole championship.

Q: One more thing for all of you. What do you have planned between now and Suzuka?
RB: My wife is here so we will be going somewhere which I won’t tell you! But I will stay in Asia.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (James Allen – ITV) Looking at the TV pictures and incident reports, it looked like T16 was where most people were going off the road in the two sessions. Is that the most difficult corner to get right, and if not, which corners have you particularly been working on today?
RB: The last corner is difficult to pick up the apex because you are going up and all of a sudden it turns, so it is difficult to see where you are. But for me I have problems in visibility for turn two, to actually see the corner itself. The track is pretty straightforward although you have some more demanding corners, I don’t think there was a problem anywhere.

Q: (Richard Williams – The Guardian) Rubens, this circuit has a long straight by modern standards. Do you like that because maybe it gives you a chance to catch your breath and perhaps does it give you a better chance to make adjustments in the car?
RB: To be honest, you have so many things to do in the middle of the straight that it’s actually quite amazing. In Monza, for example, you have to be careful if someone is going slower you can catch the tow very quickly and damage the front wing or have an accident. Here it seems to take forever to go down the straight, so the changes, you could make, but in a way it is a bit boring because you are running so much more downforce so the speed is stopping at some point and you don’t see it going at some point, so it’s quite nice to come out of T13 but when you look at it it’s pretty amazing. It was worse on the bike, yesterday, when I saw the beginning of the straight!

Q: (Alessia Cruciani – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Rubens, your president Mr Motezemolo said if Ferrari used the third car next year then Valentino Rossi could be a good choice. What do you think about it and what do the other drivers think?
RB: I have no idea of that at all. Obviously I don’t know if it is a PR thing that is just good for the press and so on. I was there the day that Valentino was running the car. He ran very well. Obviously, for him to race I think he will need more than just the month of December to test to be able to get to reasonable times for the car, but I don’t know if that’s it’s true or not. I would have no problems running with him. I am a big fan when I see his riding and if he could do in a car what he does on a bike he would beat all of us.

Q: (Jean Francois Begin – La Presse) Rubens and Juan, how much of a challenge do you think it is for Jacques to come into the championship with three races to go?
RB: Well, he’s been around and he knows what he has to do. It is just what he mentioned now, being out of the car is quite a tough thing because you can try to do anything out the car but it is not the same as driving. So, if it is not a problem physically, it is not a problem.