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DRIVERS: Fernando ALONSO
(Renault), Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN (Ferrari), Adrian SUTIL (Force India), Jarno
TRULLI (Toyota)
Q: A question to you all. What are your reactions to seeing the Yas Island
Circuit for the first time. The facilities? The circuit? Adrian, would you
like to start?
Adrian SUTIL: Impressive, let’s say. A very nice circuit, very big. I think
it is the biggest I’ve ever seen. The facilities are amazing. It is going to
be an interesting weekend really.
Jarno TRULLI: I think I agree. I was impressed with the facilities and the
place and the circuit. So far it seems to be very well made with the surface
and the kerbs. I think the run-off area so far seems pretty good. Obviously
before we judge the circuit lay-out we need to have a run.
Kimi RÄIKKÖNEN: I have only seen the paddock area so far. I haven’t been
around the circuit yet. It looks all new and you can see a bit that it is
last minute but, overall, it is a very big, massive thing and it will be one
of the nicest when everything is ready.
Q: Fernando, have you looked at it on the simulator?
Fernando ALONSO: No, no simulator for us. Not even Play Station this time.
It will be the first lap tomorrow. Again, the same as all the others, I am
very impressed with all the facilities. The circuit itself and the lay-out I
think we need to wait until tomorrow as in the car you have always different
feelings and different sensations, so I am looking forward. It will be an
interesting weekend especially with the late start for the race, with the
lights, so it can be quite a good show for television.
Q: Adrian, you have tried it on the simulator, haven’t you?
AS: Yes, I tried it on the simulator. It is quite good to drive but let’s
say, not overwhelming, but let’s see how it is in the real. It is always a
different thing.
Q: Do you think you can continue the form you have shown in the last few
races here?
AS: Well, hopefully yes. There are long straights on this circuit, so
hopefully it will suit our car but it is hard to say where we are. It went
really well in the last races, especially in qualifying where our pace was
great. But it is a new circuit and we have no set-up here. For everybody it
is a big challenge, so let’s see how we go but we try to do the best out of
the car and hope for a really good race.
Q: There are a lot of right angle turns here. Do you think they will hurt
the car?
AS: Yeah, a long straight and then hairpins. Some second gear corners, some
first gear corners, so actually really slow corners everywhere. I am not
sure if it suits us but we will have to try and make the best out of it. But
when I walked the circuit today I had quite a good feeling, so hopefully it
is the truth.
Q: What about your future? What are the chances of staying on at Force
India?
AS: Well, at the moment I am still not confirmed but we are talking with
Force India for sure and it would be a good thing to do another season
there. Both sides are interested and I feel really well with my team at the
moment.
Q: Jarno, a similar questions to you really, concerning your form over the
last few races and your future.
JT: I think it was really good by the team to show the performance in the
last few races after a poor middle of the season. It was nice to be back
fighting for the front. I think we missed a little bit of luck but all in
all it was nice to prove that Toyota was bouncing back after a fantastic
start to the season. But to be honest we have gone through such an up and
down season that it is difficult to predict what is going to happen for this
race. These hot conditions should suit our car but it is only a hope and we
will only find out during the weekend. Regarding the future, I have nothing
to say or add at the moment.
Q: Are you talking to other teams as well at the moment?
JT: I prefer not to make any speculation. Obviously I have got some options.
Q: What are your thoughts on possibly leaving Toyota?
JT: Obviously there is a high chance to be leaving Toyota but it difficult
to say and talk about. A lot is up in the air.
Q: Kimi, what are your thoughts on leaving Ferrari?
KR: Well, it is not any different than a few races ago. I don’t have a
contract anymore with them. It is the last race and we try to make a good
result and we will see what happens in the future.
Q: Is your focus totally on Formula One or would you like to pursue your
rallying career?
KR: Basically I have a few different options and we will see what is the
best one overall and then make my decision.
Q: Would rallying be a consideration?
KR: It is definitely one of them, but I mean it is not just Formula One and
rallying. There are other things I could do and we will see what happens.
Q: Just looking back at the second part of the season. You have only scored
two points less than the person who has scored the most points. Considering
that development has stopped on the car it is a pretty remarkable record,
isn’t it?
KR: Yeah, I think we had a good second half. The car is definitely not the
fastest but we found a pretty good way of working with the car and getting
the best out of. It has been more normal to drive than for a long time
before. Once you get something that you have a good feeling with, then
usually you get good results. The bigger teams or the better teams who have
been faster this year should have done better; better cars, better results
and better points overall in the last part but they haven’t and I think we
did pretty well.
Q: It seems almost unfair that the focus has been on your team-mates and how
fast they have been going whereas you have been racking up points all the
time.
KR: It makes no difference for me really. I don’t think they have been going
very fast and they can talk to them as much as they want. We just try to
score points and get good results. That has been our aim and is still our
aim in the last race and hopefully we can get a bit more than McLaren.
Q: Fernando, looking at your future and leaving Renault. What are your
thoughts on those?
FA: Well, obviously it is finishing one of the steps that you do in your
career and now it is time to move forward and change team. It will be quite
an emotional race as it has been many years with Renault now, seven years
with them, and I know everybody in the team. Some of them after so many
years are good friends to me, so for sure I will miss them in the future but
a new challenge is ahead of me now and I am looking forward to next year as
well.
Q: When do you go to Ferrari for the first time? Is there a date?
FA: No, there is not a date.
Q: No ideas?
FA: No, soon.
Q: Pretty soon?
FA: Hopefully, yes.
Q: I know for a long time you had somewhere to live in Oxford. Are you going
to have somewhere in Maranello?
FA: No, I will be in Switzerland, where I am now, but it is not too far from
Maranello. It is only three hours driving or whatever, or two, so it won’t
be too difficult to go there.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) If I can ask all of you. Jean
Todt is the new President of the FIA. What would you like to see him achieve
and accomplish for Formula One?
Q: Jarno, would you like to start?
JT: I mean he knows better than me what Formula One needs at the moment.
Probably stability and consistency in terms of rules as this will help the
cost cutting. There are plenty of things that will be discussed with the
team principals. They really have to work together in order to get Formula
One back to where it was last year. This year has been pretty difficult in
general. On our side, the drivers’ side, I think we have always had a good
relationship with the FIA people. We look after safety and it will be
important to talk to each other.
KR: I think he is going to do good work. I think he is a good guy for this
work and he is very straightforward and not too much politics. But I know
from working with him that he is going to be the right guy.
FA: The same. I think his experience in Formula One will be a huge help to
improve things and he will have a better idea of what Formula One needs. He
is quite a clever guy, so I am sure we are in good hands now.
AS: Yeah, I think a good President. He has a lot of experience in Formula
One and he knows what’s important. I think the biggest point is maybe the
drivers can also argue a little bit than just being asked about situations
and stuff like that as it did not really happen, I think I had a feeling, in
the last years. That will be the most important thing for myself that we are
in there for discussions as well sometimes.
Q: (Chris Lines – Associated Press) Question for you all about the late
start: starting in the afternoon, going into the evening. We had a situation
in Australia, first race of the year, with a similar kind of timing. Towards
the end of the race there were complaints from the drivers about the sun
getting in their eyes, complaints about the track cooling down, so the grip
wasn’t as good. Do you have concerns here for the same reasons?
KR: I don’t think there will be any problems. Of course, it might look a
little bit different at some point when the sun disappears but the lights,
at least in Singapore, were so good that you hardly see the difference
between day and night. Here, it will be quite hot anyhow, so it should be
OK.
Q: Would ten degrees make a lot of difference to the track temperature?
FA: I don’t think so. I think in Australia the temperatures were different.
Here, the track temperature at the start of the race will maybe be 50
degrees, so it will never be cool enough to give you problems warming up the
tyres.
AD: Very similar. I think it won’t be a real problem. The only place where
we were quite late this year with the sunset was in Australia. It was a
little bit difficult, for sure, in some corners but not a problem for me,
and temperature-wise, well, it’s so hot here anyway, so we shouldn’t have a
problem. For sure you have to readjust the temperatures but it’s about
communicating with the engineers and just doing the right thing at the right
time.
JT: I agree. In general temperatures shouldn’t be a problem. The only
question mark which we will eventually find out about tomorrow will be the
shadows because of the sunset in this twilight race. We’ve got the
experience of Australia and all the time schedule has been moved, so already
tomorrow we will find out, so we will get an idea.
Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Question to Jarno and Adrian: I’m
just wondering if you two guys have settled your differences after your
exchange of words following your first lap accident in Brazil?
JT: I think we’re going to discuss it probably tomorrow in the drivers’
briefing and in the GPDA briefing. Obviously it was very disappointing to
end the race like that, especially on the first lap. Obviously I think I had
every reason to be extremely furious. I’ve got all the evidence to show that
I was there, I was next to him, so I think tomorrow we are going to discuss
it.
AS: I think there’s nothing to discuss. It was a quite obvious incident. In
the end it was very disappointing for myself, even more, I think, because I
was the one who was just driving and he lost control of his car and crashed
in my back, so it was not my problem, it was his problem. I don’t know why
he’s freaking out like that, to be honest.
JT: (Laughing) If you want, I can show you some pictures. I don’t know if
you’re blind but they clearly show you that my front wing is next to your
front wing, so…
AS: Yeah, but you’re trying to overtake me on the outside on the kerbing.
There was not a problem…
JT: So you mean… you didn’t move there…
AS: No, you were just not going off the power. The same happened in
Barcelona where you lost control again and crashed again into a Force India
car. You just have to sometimes also…
JT: I just lost…
AS: ...expect the limits of the car. If there’s no way to go, you have to
back off, that’s how racing is, and I don’t know how long you want to learn
it.
JT: In Barcelona I spun and he hit me because he tapped the kerb, he
completely cut the circuit and he didn’t slow down, so basically… Anyway, I
think it’s better…
FA: (to KR) Shall we go?
AS: No, no. Watch the race in Barcelona. I didn’t hit you, you hit me. I
don’t know what’s the problem, but maybe your eyes are a problem.
JT: I don’t have any feeling about him.
AS: I don’t understand, really, sorry.
Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) I was actually going to ask a similar question,
but maybe the two of you can agree on what you said after the incident in
Brazil, because obviously Jarno was seen to be gesticulating and saying
quite a few things. Could you just tell us what was said at the time?
JT: I was furious because I said ‘didn’t you see me?’ I mean, I was next to
him and he kept pushing me going outside until I was obviously on the kerbs.
I couldn’t believe…
AS: …the kerbs, not a problem to be on the kerb, I think. Where’s the
problem?
JT: Ok, no problem, it’s OK. As long as we know the rules.
AS: I know the rules.
JT: Fantastic.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Fernando, you were behind
these two guys. Could you give us your point of view and Kimi, we heard
something about you taking a sabbatical next year in 2010. Is that true,
it’s an option or not?
KR: I can if I want. I can do whatever I want, but like I said before, I
haven’t made my decision what I want to do yet.
FA: Yes, I saw everything, more or less. Second or third row, because I had
two cars in front of me but as Jarno said, I think tomorrow in the drivers’
briefing we will discuss… deep.
Q: (Joris Fioriti – AFP) Do you think, the four of you, that Jenson Button
is a good champion for the sport, or just that he had the best car this
year?
FA: I think he’s a good champion for Formula One and he deserved it. He did
a very good job this season. It’s true that in the second half he maybe
didn’t score the points that people expected but it was very difficult to
keep the same average points as in the first half, when he won all the
races. For that reason, you have the feeling that he stepped back a little
bit but I think he did a very good job. If you look at the overall view of
the championship from race one to the final race, he was the best of us, so
he deserved it. It’s good for him, good for Brawn and good for the sport, I
think.
AS: Yes, I think he deserved it, definitely. I think it was quite hard in
the last races because he was maybe struggling a little bit with the car and
the car just wasn’t the fastest anymore, so they were harder races for him,
but I think he always made the best of his possibilities and scored points,
a few points, sometimes more points but it was definitely enough for the
championship, so my congratulations to him. He did a good job this year,
yeah.
JT: I think he’s a very well deserved champion because it’s turned out a
good season. Obviously he’s had some ups and downs but he managed to handle
the situation; when he had the best car he proved he was a race winner and
when he had to defend he just drove well, always keeping his head cool. I
think in the end, he deserved it.
KR: Yeah, he had the most points, also at the end of the season but whoever
gets the most points deserves it, so he’s definitely the right man for that.
Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriere dello Sport) Kimi, what would like to tell
Fernando as he’s joining Ferrari to replace you?
KR: I don’t think I need to tell him anything; for sure he will find out.
He’s been in Formula One a long time and he’s not going to have any issues
there. I think he’s probably been there before and met the people already,
so there’s not much to say.
Q: (Gautam Sharma – F1 Racing, Middle East) Question for Fernando: do you
know anything about the car you will be driving next year and do you have
any expectations for the season or are you just taking it as it comes?
FA: I don’t know anything so far, about the 2010 car but hopefully it’s
quick enough to fight for the title which is the main goal not only for
myself but for the team as well. After one season that was not good for me
and maybe not good enough for Ferrari either, I think next year hopefully we
have the possibility to fight and then you can win, you lose, it depends on
many details but at least there is the possibility to be winning some races
and afterwards you will see race by race. You never have any specific
programme before the championship. You take it as it comes, later.
Q: (Jonathan Legard – BBC Sport) Question for Kimi: you talk about your
options. I just wondered how important it would be if you decided to stay in
Formula One, if you found another team, that you could do some rallying as
well, like you did with Ferrari or whether that’s something of a stumbling
block, wanting to do another form of motor sport as well as doing Formula
One?
KR: It’s definitely going to be Formula One, it’s going to be in the
contract that I’m allowed to do it (rallying). It’s not going to hurt you.
Any kind of driving is always going to give you some experience, so I don’t
see what’s the issue. It’s been working well this year, so as long as it
doesn’t disturb what you’re doing in Formula One or whatever you do, I don’t
see that there’s any problem.
Q: (Joris Fioriti – AFP) Both championships have been settled. Will this
race be the last opportunity to show yourselves, the ones that don’t have a
team for next year?
JT: I think we race for the team as well. We don’t only race for us. We
always want to do our best and obviously this is the last race and we want
to finish on a high, not just for us or the team. Basically we’re in the
same boat.
KR: You always try to do your best – at least, I try and it’s the same story
in the last race: we try to get back third place in the championship for the
team. I think it’s a bit late if you only try to do your best in the last
race to try to prove yourself to some other team, then you shouldn’t be
there. It’s the same story as any race this year: we try to do the maximum.
AS: For me it makes no difference. I’m always trying to get the best out of
the car and do my best. It’s the last race but there’s no difference for me.
Q: (Jonathan Legard – BBC Sport) Fernando, after you won the title in 2005,
there were still two races to go. How did you approach those? Just thinking
of Jenson Button’s approach; he’s done it now, is there a sense of release,
any different approach to the race?
FA: I think he will be more relaxed because you did the job already, and
they also won the Constructors’ Championship, so there is nothing really to
fight for, so you approach the race relaxed and you enjoy the weekend, while
in the last two or three races you maybe had some stress when you arrived at
a race. For me, 2005 was different because we were fighting for the
Constructors’ Championship until the last race, so there was still a little
bit of stress in the weekend, but for him it will be quite a fun weekend. |
