Q: Felipe, an intense, dramatic last few minutes in Q3, everybody out there right at the end, what a brilliant lap from you.
Felipe MASSA: Yeah, it was tough. Qualifying was very tight. You could see that every single Q1, Q2, Q3 was always a big fight between all four drivers, and in the last one, I managed to put together a great lap and I’m very proud, especially after a very bad result in Hungary. I think we deserve it. I’m very proud about the lap, about the team’s job and it’s very good to start on pole position here, especially as the race tomorrow will be very tough, so it’s always a good start. Q: Especially a year after your first pole, also here, in Turkey; a fantastic lap here, talk a little bit about turn eight and getting that lap perfect as you did.
FM: Well, turn eight is fantastic. I just managed to do it very well in qualifying. Actually, I love the corner. All weekend I’ve been doing very good speeds through turn eight with a good balance to the car as well so I really love the corner. I think the whole track is really nice, it’s very technical to drive, difficult to find the right balance for every single part.
Q: Kimi, you also looked like a pole man for quite a while there. What was qualifying like for you?
Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: I think the first qualifying (sessions) were good. I made a mistake in the second one in corner nine but the car felt good and just in the last qualifying, the last lap, I had a bit of oversteer in the last two corners, but nevertheless, I think third is OK. For sure, I would rather be in first place but I think we have a good race car here. It’s going to be a long race so hopefully we can fight back.
Q: We talk a lot about the dramatic fast corners here particularly turn eight but then it’s interesting to hear you and other drivers talking about the last few corners of the lap, which are relatively slow and appear to be quite easy corners.
KR: Yeah, they’re slow but you lose much more time in slow corners than in fast corners. They’re very important corners and it’s very tricky to get them right. They seem to be very slippery. You can easily destroy the lap there so that’s what happened, but I think we are still in a good position for tomorrow and we will see what we can do in the race.
Q: Felipe, your thoughts on the Ferrari - McLaren Mercedes battle tomorrow.
FM: Yeah, it will be very tough. I think we have a good race car tomorrow, as we also showed in practice, but they are going to be very competitive as well. I think it’s going to be a difficult race for us, a nice race for the spectators.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Felipe, you’re becoming a little bit of a Turkish specialist, I think.
FM: I miss this place, to be in the middle of the people, you know. It was a great lap, I’m very happy about that. It was very tight during the whole qualifying with all four drivers but I knew I had a good car and I just knew that if I put everything together I can be very very quick. I didn’t have a very very good lap in Q1 and Q2, I just couldn’t put the lap together but I was paying attention to where I was making mistakes to get it right when it counts. I was able to put everything together in the last run, both tries in Q3. It was a good lap, so I’m very happy to be here especially after a very bad result in Hungary.
Q: How important is it to know that you can win here, that you have won here?
FM: First of all, if you know you have a good car, if you know the balance is right, and if you know that if you’re maybe having a problem in one corner but you were already able to do the corner right during the weekend, you know that you are competitive. I was pretty competitive during the weekend, even if maybe I was not first but I was competitive, the balance was right and I just managed to put it together at the time that it counted. I think that’s the most important thing. For sure, to be concentrated, to do everything perfect is very difficult but I managed to do that.
Q: And we’ve seen a lot of drivers making mistakes over the last couple of days, how do you feel about your own performance?
FM: I think it’s pretty normal to make mistakes. I made some as well. When you need to try to find the limit, it’s normal to make small mistakes and that’s what happens with most people. Fortunately it didn’t happen at the crucial time, so that’s good.
Q: Kimi, a bit disappointed to be third after yesterday for instance?
KR: Yeah, for sure we want to be in first place but the first two qualifying runs were OK, the car was good. I made small mistakes in the second qualifying but I just had maybe not as a good car as I was expecting in the last run, but a small mistake in the last two corners was enough to put me third. But I think we have a very good car in the race, so we should be able to fight and it’s a long race. We will see what we can do.
Q: You seem to be talking a lot about the third sector. Is it a case of you can lose a lot of time there but you can’t gain a lot?
KR: I think you can win as much as you can lose if you get it right but the fact is that you can lose more time in the slow corners because you spend more time in them. It’s just a tricky place with very tight corners and you try to be quick in a straight line, so you don’t want too much downforce but it is also slippery.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Spyros Pettas - Auto Motor und Sport Greece) The World Motor Sport Council decided that McLaren had Ferrari technical information and broke Article 151c, but were not penalized. Then came Hungary where McLaren and Fernando Alonso were severely penalized because he just stood in the pits for 30 seconds for whatever reason. Is this type of justice flattering to the sport and the F1 fans?
FM: I am not going to comment on that.
KR: The same.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Kimi, yesterday you said you would prefer P3 to P2 if you were not on pole. Do you still agree?
KR: I think so, if you look at past years the clean side of the circuit seems to be the better place to start. I think it might make a difference here but we will see what happens tomorrow.
Q: (Ian Stafford - The Mail on Sunday) A question for both Kimi and Felipe: There are 50 points still to play for, so both of you could still be world champion, but realistically what have you got to do now to stop Lewis and Fernando? I think that you need to be beating Lewis by three and a half points per race between now and the end of the season, so what do you have to do?
FM: We will try to do exactly that!
Q: Can you elaborate on that?
FM: We will try to put both Ferraris ahead of both McLarens in every race. The championship is not easy, 21 points is not comfortable but is it possible? We are going to try.
KR: We will do our best and hopefully win races and you never know what is going to happen in the last six races. We will keep pushing for as long as we still think we have a chance. The next three races are important but we need to wait and see.
Q: (Steve Cooper - Autosport) Felipe, there was a report in the German media earlier this week that you had received information about the McLaren Hungary penalty before it had been officially released. Is that true?
FM: That is crazy.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) For Massa, you did a fantastic T3 and Kimi said it is easy to make a mistake there, so can you explain how that was so good?
FM: It was very difficult especially since from the morning practice to qualifying the wind direction changed a little bit and affected these corners. I didn’t have the same grip again in the last corner compared to before but I was able to do a good T3, not pushing as hard in the corner as before. I just tried not to be too aggressive and managed to do a good T3.
Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) You said you didn’t have as good a car in Q3 as in Q1 and Q2, so can you just describe what happened with the balance of the car?
KR: It was nothing specific, I just think that when you put more fuel in the car it is always going to be different. You are always guessing a bit how it is going to be and although it was still good I could not quite put a lap together as well as I was hoping. But I think for long runs in the race the car should be good. I am not too disappointed although for sure it makes it easier if you start in first place, so we will just have to see what happens.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Felipe, which one was more difficult to get, pole this year or last year?
FM: I think both. Pole position is always difficult. Last year was tight and this year we have also had many tight qualifying sessions. I was able to do a good lap here and in Malaysia as well it was very good. Even Bahrain was tight. It is always difficult.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi, can you describe how it felt when you made a mistake, I think between T12 and T13? Did you analyse in that moment that you had lost pole position?
KR: I didn’t know. I knew that I lost time because I was a bit off the line. I don’t know how much I lost but for sure it would have been a lot closer. It just sometimes happens when you push to gain time and you overdo it. It is part of the game.
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