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1 - Sebastian VETTEL (Red
Bull),
2 - Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)
3 - Mark WEBBER (Red Bull)
Q: Sebastian, your first pole here at Monaco. Share your feelings with us?
Sebastian VETTEL: Yes, it is a long way around here. Qualifying is tough.
Three segments so in each one you have to give it your 100 per cent. We had
very good preparation in Q1 and Q2, maybe not yet perfect but then in Q3 the
lap I had was just spot on, so I was really happy with that. But I think
sitting here now talking about qualifying, I think the most important thing
was to hear that Sergio Pérez is okay. He is conscious. We all sit inside
the cockpit and wait to go out, but we see the images as well. We are all
thinking of him and wish him all the best and hopefully he can start the
race tomorrow. It wasn’t easy to wait that long time but I think the circuit
in Q3 after waiting such a long time was not there anymore. Not a lot of
people did improve. It was quite slippery. Had to wait long for that pole
but very pleased. Always here it is very important, so very happy.
Q: Jenson, a difficult session for everybody but as Sebastian said the lap
speed was not there in that final run. Tell us about the track condition
when you all went out there for that final two minutes.
Jenson BUTTON: Yeah, it was very slippery. But we wanted to get out early to
really push on the out lap and there wasn’t any tyre temperature as we had
been sitting in the pit-lane for two-and-a-half minutes. It wasn’t best but
the great thing was I put in a good lap at the start of the session. A lap I
was very happy with, much better than my Q2 lap. But I would just like to
say also it is great that Sergio is talking and is okay. I think I was the
last person to go in there in 2003 and I know how much it hurts. It is never
nice to see that sort of thing. I hope he is okay. I am not sure he will be
racing tomorrow but I hope he gets well soon.
Q: Mark, you won last year from pole position. With the new tyres and the
DRS wings is it possible to win this year from third place and how did you
feel about your performance today.
Mark WEBBER: Absolutely it is. The races we have seen are a bit more mixed
up certainly than the last few years. Tomorrow should be no exception but
qualifying here is crucial, no question about it. Pole is certainly a nice
benefit to have. Seb did a great lap again today and deserves the pole. JB
as well. It was a good first run. It was a messy session I think for all of
us. You never anticipate not getting a second go but that is the way it felt
today. Clearly the biggest priority took over when one of our colleagues,
Sergio, had a tough crash and all the medical people have got to make sure
they make all the precautions to extract him in the best possible way. Our
thoughts are with him and he is in great hands. We know he is talking and
conscious and he will bounce back from this I am sure. But we can learn from
this incident. In terms of safety it’s an area where we need to look at and
improve for the future. JB was lucky, Karl Wendlinger back in the
mid-1990’s, so I think there are a few places around here we probably need
to continue to keep an eye on.
Q: Sebastian, the Monaco Grand Prix is a race you have never won before. How
important is it to you to put that right tomorrow?
SV: Well I wouldn’t mind, let’s put it this way. It is a long race. Always
here it is a bit of a casino so a lot of things going on. It is a long race,
78 laps is a long way and as we have seen grands prix this year with
multiple pit-stops could change in the last minute but one thing that
remains unchanged is that pole position here remains important so I think we
can be very happy with that. But there is no guarantee for tomorrow. All our
eyes are on tomorrow‘s races and we have to push hard so let’s see what we
can do.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, it is no surprise to see you on pole position in many ways but
there seemed to be two other teams that were looking good in practice and in
qualifying itself?
SV: Yes, I think you can never be sure you are on pole especially around
here. P1, P2, P3, all the practice sessions were extremely close. We knew
that we should be okay, but until qualifying comes you don’t know. McLaren,
especially Lewis (Hamilton) looked very competitive. He was a bit unlucky.
Obviously different strategy to the rest. Probably doing only one run in the
end which caught him out with the red flag. Then to be honest Ferrari looked
very competitive. Fernando (Alonso) in particular. I don’t know what
happened to them in qualifying but once you start going you are totally
focussed on yourself. You try to find your way around here. I think it is
very, very important to find the rhythm. In Q1 and Q2 I think we were there
or thereabouts, not 100 per cent happy, but in Q3 I think the circuit did
another step and we were able to use that and improve by quite a bit so all
in all very happy with qualifying. Especially around here we know it is very
important the position you start from. Starting on the clean side as well so
couldn’t be any better. But surely there is a bit of a shadow over
qualifying when you see a colleague crash and not jumping out of the car
immediately. Nico (Rosberg) had a similar accident this morning, same place,
and he walked away so nothing to worry about. But then you sit inside your
car and I was asking to get any feedback, any updates, to know how Sergio is
doing. To be honest it is difficult to keep the focus and you don’t feel 100
per cent well when you don’t know what is going on. The message that he is
fine, he is talking, he is conscious is already a big relief. We all wish
him the best and to get well soon. Whether he is able to drive tomorrow I
don’t know. We hope but we have to see.
Q: For the race tomorrow do you feel this is more of a lottery here. Every
race seems to have been so much of a lottery. Things going forward,
backwards, everything? Is it more of a lottery or less than other races?
SV: It is difficult to say. I think Monaco in general is casino. There are a
lot of things that can go on but we will have to see. One thing for sure
overtaking is not easy here. Other tracks it was quite easy, possible, as
sometimes you were on a different tyre plus DRS helped you. I think the
effect of DRS here is fairly small. If you look at the distance it is not
even half of what we used to have in other tracks plus even if your tyres go
off, if you have someone in front and they are struggling with tyres, it
will be very difficult to pass him. We have seen it in the past. I remember
two years ago I had a horrible rear tyre and I was able to stay ahead. I
was, I think, five seconds slower and then at some point there was no chance
anymore to defend. We will see. I can give you the answer tomorrow.
Obviously it is a long race here so we have to keep the focus now completely
on the race and see what we can do.
Q: On the front row for the second time after China so obviously you must be
pleased with that?JB: Yeah, very pleased. These guys for some reason always
seem to go a lot quicker in Q3 than in Q1 and Q2. But personally I was very
happy with my lap. I didn’t really get it all together in Q2. I knew there
was a bit more there. Considering I was expecting to get another run I am
very happy with the time I did. The car felt good and pretty much all
weekend the car has given me a lot of confidence to really push it around
here, which bodes well for the race. The race pace seemed to be very good.
So good to be on the front row. But same as what Seb said I am glad that
Sergio is talking and okay. I obviously had a big accident there in 2003 and
I also know he will be very well looked after. He has probably had all the
x-rays and everything by now. He is probably already shouting ‘I want to be
in the car, let me get back in the car,’ which is what I was doing. I am
glad he is okay and hopefully we will see him back soon.
Q: Tell us what the problem is going into that chicane; we’ve seen two cars
just turn right into the barrier, why does that happen?
JB: It’s when you first hit the brakes; the rear goes very light. For some
reason it seems to be more of an issue this year, which surprises me,
because of the blown diffuser systems that a lot of us have. But the rear
goes very light and at that point you become a passenger if you get
oversteer. You have no control of the car and it’s pitching them into the
right side barrier and then the problem is that you lose braking capability,
because you’ve got two wheels off the car and it’s just a sled, just sitting
on the floor. And I’m really happy that Charlie made the right call and took
away those speed humps from this morning, after Nico’s accident, because I
think if they had been there, the accident would have been even worse. It’s
a tricky corner and it’s an area where it’s very difficult to do anything
about in terms of safety because it is what it is. It’s Monaco, a street
circuit, but I still think we need to look further as to what we can do with
the run-off there.
Q: Mark, you’re obviously a previous winner here; how much of an advantage
is that?
MW: Not a disadvantage. I think Seb can join a lot of the quick boys
tomorrow, obviously, with everything else he’s achieved, but it’s great to
win here obviously: JB has, Lewis has, Fernando, myself, so quite a few of
us have won here. It’s a long grand prix, we know that. This year things
have changed a bit more within the grands prix, as you’ve touched on, so
let’s see how it goes. For sure pole is important. Seb did a great job
today, a good first run and that was enough, obviously, in a pretty chaotic
session in terms of dealing with Sergio and then obviously a long, long,
wait for us to go back out. So, in the end, to be honest, if you’d asked me
before qualifying would I have taken third, probably I would have, but yeah,
it’s never nice knowing that you could do a bit better. Obviously the car,
the team have done a great job getting everything ready so yeah, it was a
tricky session for everybody and I’m pretty happy to be third on the grid to
be honest, and it’s a great position to still get a top result tomorrow. I
just want to echo the boys’ thoughts on Sergio. Obviously, it was a very
nasty incident. We’ve seen a few guys have problems out of there this
weekend and it’s not a very nice part of the track – very, very high speed
with a compromised run-off. You’ve got to slot down either side. Obviously,
Nico went down one side and we’ve seen people go down the other side but if
you get it in the middle, you have problems, as Sergio did today. He will be
in great hands, we’re all thinking of him. It’s never comfortable to see one
of our mates have a nasty one like that. So yeah, that can happen, but we
want to see and learn how things improve in the future.
Q: You lost a full session on Thursday; how much did that hurt you?
MW: It’s never a help. I’ve normally not been too bad around here,
struggling a little bit with rhythm and not comfortable in a couple of
corners on the track but getting better, to be honest. I think the short
runs are actually a little bit more difficult for me than getting into a
rhythm and doing a longer run. As I say, second row, try and get away well
tomorrow. It’s a long, long grand prix. It could be quite easy at any stage
to be leading the race, it can happen, and also you can go the other way as
well but I’m looking to go forward. The car’s been reliable and running
well, so looking forward to a long grand prix tomorrow and hopefully I’ll
see you guys again.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Malcolm Folley – Mail on Sunday) Jenson, you have experienced the same
accident that Sergio has had. We saw Karl Wendlinger before you and DC’s had
an accident there and two this time. You talk about there being not much you
can do about it, improving the safety there. It would suggest that something
ought to be done to improve the safety there for you guys.
JB: Yes. The cars have improved dramatically in terms of safety since Karl
Wendlinger’s accident and the circuit has improved, the barrier’s been moved
back since my accident, so there have been improvements, but we need to find
a solution because we all love racing here. It’s a very special circuit for
us and there’s so much history but there’s a couple of areas. That is the
main area really, I think. It’s an area that we need to discuss and try and
come up with a solution because we all think the same thing. We all want it
to be safer there, so we can really come here and really enjoy the racing.
Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) Guys, you’ve all talked about the
dangers, about part of the circuit, and obviously it has become, clearly,
quite dangerous. You’re paid to do what you do but are all you three guys
prepared to put your lives on the line tomorrow going into that race?
JB: Motor racing is dangerous; it says that on the passes, and we all know
that, but there’s always more we can do. We’re all going to go racing
tomorrow and I’m pretty sure that with higher fuel loads and everything you
won’t see any issues – I hope. So yeah, it is a dangerous sport, but I think
we still need to keep tweaking certain areas. Some people say that it should
always stay a dangerous sport, we shouldn’t improve it, but I don’t think
that’s correct. I think we’ve had some amazing racing this year and a lot of
very safe racing, and some great fights, but there are just a couple of
little areas that I think we all need to sit down and really be improved for
the future.
SV: Not much to add. If we make comparisons to the past, between the lines
you can read a bit of criteria that things are too safe these days and too
easy in some ways, but things like this are a bit of a wake-up call, so we
have to make sure that we learn from this and surely there’s very little we
can do for tomorrow. Obviously, the most important message was that Sergio
is OK but for the future, we race on street circuits, here or places like
Singapore, so it’s our job, the drivers’ job to make sure we defend
ourselves and say OK, listen, we need this and that much space here and
there and that should be the target. But, as I said, the most important
thing is that Sergio is OK now and we’ll have a good and safe race tomorrow.
Q: (Mathias Brunner – Speedweek) There is a lot of construction going on in
that area; do you find that the track has become more bumpy than in years
past?
MW: It’s always been pretty bumpy out of the tunnel, on the brakes and as
the boys have touched on a little bit, every year we come here the cars are
a little bit different, aerodynamically. Also, in the early 2000s, we had
cars with engine braking, distance mapped electronics, things that were very
sophisticated to help (with) the rear locking and the problems that you can
have when the rear of the car is moving around. Now the cars are a little
bit more basic in some ways but then obviously you have more technology like
the diffusers and things like this, so we’re always looking to make the cars
fast, but on the flipside of that, the cars also then become a bit easier to
drive or more predictable in those tricky situations. I think there is a
bump there but it’s just if you have a problem with the rear of the car
there at that speed, the chance to recover is very, very low. We saw Nico,
obviously, and Vitaly on Thursday had a problem and he went straight down; I
think he was lucky. And I think also what’s important to mention that it was
very lucky that they pulled the sleeping policemen up after Nico’s incident
this morning because I think Sergio could have even had a nastier accident
with his car potentially not having the right impact into the side. We just
need to keep learning and work with the FIA, and the drivers chip in every
now and again and help out the guys, because we’re the ones in the cockpit
and it’s nice to try and improve where we can.
Q: (Heikki Kulta – Turun Sanomat) Sebastian, this was your first pole here
in Monaco. Was this the pole that you wanted the most and it must have been
quite a lap because you broke Kimi’s record from 2005 by one tenth?
SV: Ah, it’s good to hear. I think Kimi doesn’t care, to be honest. Yeah,
Jenson’s just said he’s driving trucks these days. I was very happy with the
lap. Obviousl, round here it’s very important to find the rhythm. If you
feel happy in the car and you have confidence in yourself and the car, then
you are able to extract so much lap time around here. It’s a very special
circuit, it’s good fun but still you need to push very, very hard, just like
on a normal racetrack where you have space and nothing around. But here, any
mistake could lead you into the barriers, so you feel this extra thrill and
it’s even more of a reward when you cross the line and you know that you had
a very, very good lap. I’m very happy with that pole position. As I said,
it’s an important part of tomorrow’s race but we’ve seen a lot of casino in
many, many years here so we will see what happens tomorrow.
Q: (Tony Dodgins - Tony Dodgins Associates) Sebastian, last year it was Mark
who was really well hooked up around here and I think they might have found
a small hairline crack in your tub or something later, but does it feel like
a different race car this year? What’s different?
SV: The cars are different this year, the tyres are different. A lot of
things are different, but to look back at last year, surely I wasn’t happy,
didn’t always feel comfortable in the car, but I think Mark was very quick
around here, and very tough to beat, especially in the race, so he gave us
all a lesson on that day. We will see this year. I’m very happy with how it
went today but tomorrow is a different story. All I have gained so far is
eight meters over this guy (Jenson Button) so we will see what we can do
tomorrow. Track position is very important here, we’ve learned that in the
past but I think there’s no rain forecast so we can leave that one out. But
you never know, we’re living by the sea. There are so many factors here, we
will see. |
