Q: Michael, what a day, what a win, from sixth on the grid and after nine laps, 22 seconds behind the leader.
Michael SCHUMACHER: Yeah, quite an exciting and extreme weekend, being pretty much competitive in the dry on Friday, then came to the qualifying, suddenly a downpour, and almost didn’t make it into the first ten. Finally got into sixth which was vital, obviously, to start the race. We had a reasonable pace to start with. I could at least keep up with the guys in front and slowly overtake and then our tyres started to work because, as we saw in Hungary already, at different stages of the race we were certainly slower or quicker. Then we found the right moment to change to dry tyres and luckily I had enough of a gap to drive home safely. Q: Your pace on the intermediates, even before you switched to dries, was just phenomenal. That’s effectively what won the race. Talk us through that phase of the race.
MS: It was a gamble to stay on the tyres because it’s very difficult to see in what state the tyres are while you’re driving so you have to gamble and judge what you’re going to do. So we decided on the option to stay on the same tyres which worked perfectly fine and it was the right moment to change because they were just about to lose performance and it got too dry for them and then we obviously had the option to pit and change to dry tyres.
Q: And a great pass on Giancarlo when he had switched to dry tyres going into turn one there, and then pressure from Fernando at the end with the storm clouds building again.
MS: First of all, concerning Giancarlo, it was clear that turn one would be difficult because I had a moment there and I knew from practice that several drivers spun off so I took it reasonably easy, but even that was almost too fast so I was thought there could be an issue with Giancarlo and there was so I got that opportunity to dive in and that won the race. Afterwards it was obviously turning down the rpm and driving it home safely, with some doubts, obviously, because in between there were some drops of rain a couple of times and when you’re in such a comfortable position, you sort of have to weigh up and judge how much risk you want to take. Obviously I decided to play it safe.
Q: Michael, two races to go in more senses of the words than one, 116 points each for you and Fernando.
MS: Yes, looking back some while ago, it’s a quite a miracle that we’re there, but thanks to great work from everybody we managed it and now we go to the last two races and I believe that we will have to wait until the last one before a decision can be reached and yes, it’s going to be an interesting couple of weeks that we are going to have to face. I really look forward to that.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Michael, you really seemed to have enjoyed that one. The team obviously did a fantastic job. Were you surprised to be so competitive today?
MS: Basically, I was a little bit surprised in the early stages of the race that we could follow the pace compared to the guys in front, because it was still reasonably damp, but then as the circuit became more and more dryish, then I was not surprised that things were working out. But the most critical decision was obviously after the pit stop, which tyres to go on, and that was kind of a gamble.
Q: Were there a few moments on the wet track?
MS: Off the circuit? Well, you slide a little bit but off the track? I don’t think I have been off the track.
Q: Obviously you overtook one of the Hondas early on.
MS: Yes, I had a little battle with Rubens, pretty straightforward. With Jenson as well, yeah, I overtook him as well, and then it was it was just closing the gap to Fisico which was looking pretty good and then I picked up the pace and it was sort of stopped from there on.
Q: Was the car good in all the different conditions that were thrown at you today?
MS: Yes. We knew already from Saturday morning, when it dried out, we didn’t have an issue with our tyres in those conditions. The dry tyres were very good. The intermediates or rain tyres worked towards these conditions pretty well. We had experience with those, so from that point of view, it was just the perfect combination in a way, and after that I just had a big gap, reduced the rpm, saved the engine and just drove it home safely. Watched out for the conditions in order not make mistakes.
Q: And then of course when Giancarlo came out of the pits ahead of you and then slid wide, that must have been a relief as well.
MS: I sort of expected something like that because I had a moment myself, getting out of the pits, even though I was very cautious but I kept on line, luckily. So coming along the pit straight, and him knowing that I was coming along the pit straight and that it might be tight, I guessed that he would obviously press to a certain limit which could cause a moment and that sort of happened and that was enough for me to go through and honestly, in these conditions, any of us who went out of the pits had a moment there because conditions were very tricky coming out of the pit lane. Having to go through the wet at a certain period and then turning into turn one was the most difficult moment of the race overall.
Q: You really seemed to have enjoyed this one!
MS: Oh yeah! Absolutely!
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Anthony Rowlinson – Autosport) Michael, after a race like that, why are you retiring?
MS: I explained myself pretty extensively at Monza and it is very nice that you ask the question and it is better to go maybe when you are still asking the question than that you hint that it is time to go…
Q: (Ranran Li – Xinmin Evening News) Someone said that Shanghai is an unlucky place for you – do you still think that? What do you think of Shanghai now and will you return as an ordinary visitor in the future?
MS: Indeed, the last two years weren’t very good for us, we were not - lucky is not the right word because Rubens won the first year and I had a bit of unlucky moments there losing time and last year we were just simply not competitive and it was very straightforward. I thought yesterday that the way the weekend was going it may be one of the unlucky ones again when things don’t work out for you, but obviously the pendulum of luck has swung the other way around and hit me and I am naturally very delighted about it for having another win for the championship and for the conditions altogether, just beautiful, and particularly if you don’t expect to win a race and just think to keep the damage as small as possible. Concerning Shanghai, an interesting city, very interesting people and I would like to express a lot of thanks to all the fans here because they have been extremely nice and enthusiastic all the week I have been here, very nice to see, in particular the tribune at the end of the straight, a beautiful atmosphere over there with all the pictures of my history, my family and everybody. Beautiful. Thanks a lot for this. If I come back again, we’ll see. It is possible in a way. But I don’t know yet.
Q: (Wuh Shanjing Fan – Changjiang Times) Today you are the champion, so do you give a wonderful kiss goodbye to your Chinese supporters?
MS: Yes, well, I think so… Chinese fans down here and in particular at turn 14 all the guys everywhere else who were cheering for us saw a great race and a lot of entertainment and from my side a good result and a little present and give-back for the last two years.
Q: Michael, Suzuka is one of your favourite circuits and Ferrari and you used to be very fast there – how do you analyse the next two rounds of the championship considering your car and the Renault as well?
MS: It is very difficult to predict the characters of a circuit and then to draw conclusions for the cars, which one it is going to suit better to the circuit and so on. I really puzzle to have a strong feeling. You are right in terms of driving style and so on I love Suzuka. It is a fantastic circuit. Our car has been good and we have to see if we can manage the tyre situation as we have done in other circuits and we have to take it from weekend to weekend because it is difficult to make predictions.
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