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1 - Sebastian VETTEL (Red
Bull)
2 - Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren)
3 - Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)
Q: Sebastian, you picked the right moment didn’t you to set your fastest lap
of any of the qualifying sessions: right on your final flying lap.
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, I think it was a very good session for us generally
after yesterday, where these boys were a little bit quicker than us. It
seems we have done the right thing and I felt much more comfortable this
morning. Q1 and Q2 was just about to get through to the last section of
qualifying and very pleased with the result. We changed a lot on the car
overnight and the boys were working pretty hard and they didn’t get much
sleep but to have a result like this today is the best way to say thanks. I
am very happy. I have got the confidence back. Today I felt much more
comfortable in the car and now I am looking forward to tomorrow.
Q: Lewis, we saw your delight with a front-row start at the Nürburgring.
Your second successive front-row start, but is there as much delight here,
as you had provisional pole at one stage.
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, still I think it is a great achievement for us. We
knew from the previous race that we had good pace and yesterday was a good
day. Today they seemed to pick up a little bit of pace but to still be on
the front row I think from me and Jenson it was a good job by us so I am
quite happy. I think we can collect some real good points from here.
Q: Jenson, at one stage it looked like Fernando Alonso was going to make it
a three-way fight and now you are here third on the grid. A satisfactory
qualifying session for yourself?
Jenson BUTTON: Yep, I am pretty happy with that. Always after a lap you
think there is a little bit here and a little bit there but to be fair it
was a pretty good lap, so I am happy to be third. It has been my issue of
late and it makes it very difficult in the race to make up the time so it is
nice to be in a good position and hopefully tomorrow we can have a good
fight.
Q: Sebastian, we saw Adrian Newey looking at the rear of your car throughout
the session. Was there a problem with your rear wing or with your DRS?
SV: No, I saw they were working a little bit on the rear wing. I saw that on
TV actually, but I don’t know, I don’t think there were any problems. If any
they fixed it, so the car was fine on the track. I never felt something
being wrong, so a bit of maintenance maybe.
Q: Not enough to give you a few nervy moments?
SV: No, not really. I trust in them. I trust in what they do and I think
they know what they are doing. I don’t know what was the problem. I will ask
later on, but on track there were no issues. Everything was fine and the car
was very quick so very pleased with today.
Q: Lewis, you mentioned the good work done by Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and
your car, but was there anymore you felt you could have given on that flying
lap to try to get pole.
LH: I think as Jenson said you can always look back on the lap and think you
should have found some more time. In hindsight I was two-and-a-half-tenths
up through the first sector and then to hold onto it through the rest of the
sectors was very tough. I went wide on the exit of turn nine, maybe lost
half-a-tenth or so there and then through the last corner pretty much lost
whatever small advantage I had there so I think it would have been very,
very close. But at the end of the day they did a better job than us.
Q: Jenson, we have seen in the past the front-row start being absolutely
imperative at the Hungaroring. But maybe with the new Pirelli tyres it could
be a more interesting race and your 200th grand prix start. What is
achievable for you?
JB: Well when you are that close to the front you have got to go for
victory. I think a lot of races this year that we thought were going to be
straightforward because of the front-row start haven’t been because you have
got the tyres, the KERs is playing a big part as well and obviously the DRS.
Obviously, going for the win tomorrow. It’s a big day for me. If I start the
race tomorrow it will be my 200th grand prix and hopefully it is going to be
a good one.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Sebastian, a great bounce back after yesterday and a lot of hard work by
the mechanics overnight.
SV: Yeah, indeed. I think they got back to the hotel around 5 o’clock, so we
went a little bit longer than the curfew but it is the best way to show on
the track straight in the morning that we made an improvement. Also today in
qualifying, Q1 and Q2, was mainly to get through and we were a little bit
behind. I was surprised by the lap times in Q2 but then in Q3 I think we
were right on the pace. Lewis had a very competitive first run, especially
in the last sector, but I was able to squeeze out a little bit more on the
last run to get pole so very pleased.
Q: Not that you had a specific problem that I know of, unless you did have a
specific problem with the car, but did it really start last weekend. Was it
already there last weekend?
SV: It is difficult to say, I think the conditions last weekend were very
different to what we had all year. To be fair Silverstone wasn’t very hot,
Germany wasn’t at all and also here it is not as usual. Usually it is 10
degrees warmer than what we saw today. Nürburgring is hard to judge because
of the very different conditions, but I didn’t feel comfortable at the
Nürburgring and struggling to match the pace of the guys at the front, so
for here, yesterday was not ideal. It was already a bit better but today. I
could feel much more comfortable in the car and back to where we have to be,
so I am very happy.
Q: It did seem to be right from the word go, virtually from the first flying
lap this morning.
SV: Yeah, indeed. Straight away I noticed the difference and I was happier.
If you are happier it is usually because you think the car is better and if
you feel confident then you are also able to get more out of yourself. You
are more consistent. It is not just one particular place where you find the
time, it is just all around the lap a little bit everywhere, so I think that
is a good sign and very important for tomorrow’s race.
Q: And does that come from confidence?
SV: As I said half-half. If you struggle with the balance of the car a
little bit here and there you reach a certain edge. Then you try to work on
the car, which we did, and I think we improved it but finally overnight I
think we released the knot and it was much better today. Then you gain the
confidence back on top and you just go faster everywhere.
Q: Lewis, not perhaps where you wanted to start but it’s your equal best
grid position this year, four second places on the grid so far, you’re a
previous winner here, so do you feel you start from a position of strength?
LH: Yes, I think it’s a good day, I can’t complain. We’ve come off a good
race in Germany and we’ve come here and it’s very similar to how competitive
we were in Germany, so that’s a positive for us. It’s also a positive to
have Jenson up here with us, and I think we can hopefully challenge
Sebastian tomorrow.
Q: Is it an advantage to be a previous winner here?
LH: Zero.
Q: We’ve seen you have a couple of offs down at the first corner, is that an
issue or do you reckon you’ve sorted that out?
LH: We’ve sorted it out. I just have a problem with my brakes so we put some
new ones on for qualifying and so it should be fine from now on.
Q: And has the car changed much over the last couple of days?
LH: No, not at all. It’s exactly the same as the last race. No updates, no
we haven’t.
Q: Jenson, when you won here, you started from 14th on the grid so it is
possible to overtake here. Are you feeling in a fairly strong position in
third on the grid?
JB: It’s very different to back in ’06 when we had wet weather. I think it’s
supposed to be dry this weekend, or tomorrow. Third place is a good starting
position here. I agree that P1 is better, that’s what we do qualifying for,
and that’s why we get excitable on pole position – or this one does
(indicates Sebastian) – but P3 is pretty good. I think we can race well from
there.
SV attempts to reply
JB: Sorry. Your microphone’s off, mine’s on!
SV: He said that he wants to bite my finger off.
JB: Yeah. He put it up and I almost grabbed it, outside with the cameras.
SV: Was that Holyfield, the boxer with the ear?
JB: Yeah, yeah. I was going for it but couldn’t get there in time. I was
actually just going to straighten it up. It was falling over.
Q: Jenson, third is your best qualifying here. Yesterday you said that
set-up tweaks were needed.
JB: Yeah, we made some good set-up tweaks overnight. This morning the car
felt pretty good. We were just playing with it a little bit through
qualifying and it eventually came good on the last run. I think I gained
about half a second on the last run in comparison to my previous lap, and it
was just getting a bit more front end on the car, because I’ve been
struggling with not getting the front end in. The car felt pretty good in
qualifying so I’m happy with where we’re starting and it’s a very, very long
tough race tomorrow, for us and also mainly for the tyres so we will see
what sort of strategies we can throw at it and obviously go for the victory.
Q: Do you see a multi pit stop race tomorrow?
JB: It’s definitely a multi pit stop race. I don’t know. We will see. It
won’t be five, it possibly could be two, three or four. We will see. This
place is pretty tough on tyres but so far this weekend I think people have
been doing reasonably long runs. Lewis’s was pretty good yesterday. I’m not
really sure how the race is going to go. It’s always different than testing.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Lewis, you’ve saved one set of
super soft tyres, which is obviously an advantage. How big is the advantage
on this particular circuit?
LH: It’s always a plus but it’s not huge. It might be one or two laps
longer. We will see what we will be able to do with them tomorrow. As Jenson
was saying, it’s probably two or three pit stops tomorrow and it could be
important to be able to look after your tyres at this track, as it always
is. It definitely will hopefully be… even if it’s a small advantage.
Hopefully I will be able to use that.
Q: (Marco degl’Innocenti – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, can you tell
us a little more precisely what your mechanics did to your car during the
long night?
SV: It worked. No. we haven’t brought much new stuff so in the end, as I
said, we have been testing a lot on Friday and I think we just put the car
to the spec where we think it is best. Sometimes it’s not so easy because
you have to take some parts off the car. It’s not a big secret: you change
the engine and the gearbox overnight and it just took a little bit longer.
Q: (Mat Coch – pitpass.com) Sebastian, last year yourself and Mark were
quite evenly matched. This year it seems as though you’ve got a couple of
tenths on him at pretty well every qualifying session. Is that a result of
the renewed confidence you had from the World Championship, do you think?
SV: No. I don’t think so. Last year I felt very comfortable here and we had
a very good qualifying session as I remember. In the race it was a bit of a
different story. I had a very good start and then a mistake which cost me
the win but I think last year our car was very competitive here. This year
again, but maybe the advantage is not that big. Last year we were much
quicker than everyone else, I remember, so I don’t think it’s down to that.
I haven’t had the chance to talk to Mark. Q1, Q2 I think he was there and
then in Q3 the gap was obviously a little bit bigger. We will talk about
qualifying later anyway and then I will find out, but I don’t think that it
has much to do with last year. Sure, with experience, things become a little
bit easier. You have a certain routine, but I don’t think it’s because of
winning the championship that I’m on pole now.
Q: (Gary Meenaghan – The National) I think this year this circuit’s been on
the calendar for 25 years. I was wondering if you have any comments on why
it’s been so enduring, what’s the secret?
SV: This is the 26th. I don’t know. I like this place, I like coming here.
Obviously, as an Austrian team, we get a lot of support, a lot of Austrian
people come. The border isn’t very far away, so it’s kind of a home Grand
Prix for us and yes, the circuit might be a little bit Mickey Mouse in
places but it’s different to most of the circuits we race on, so I quite
enjoy that. It’s quite tough, there are a lot of laps tomorrow. Usually it’s
very tough on tyres, on the car and on the drivers as well.
LH: It’s one of the best tracks we have on the calendar and it’s a fantastic
city. The weather’s always good, great crowd and whilst you don’t have too
much overtaking it’s a great place to race, so I think that’s probably why
it’s quite a historic circuit for us.
JB: It is a great circuit to drive, especially when the car’s on the edge in
qualifying. It doesn’t really give you any rest, but personally I don’t
think that’s the reason. I think it is probably the fans. We have a lot of
support here, outside the hotels, in the grandstand. It’s pretty full, which
is good to see. It obviously goes up and down through the years but
generally there’s been good support here. Probably the main reason is that
there’s a road called Bernie Avenue leading into the circuit. Possibly.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) To Lewis and Jenson, as I
understand it, most of the time you are going to use the soft tyre tomorrow.
Comparing your performance to Red Bull’s on this type of tyre, do you think
you can compete with them?
JB: I really don’t know. It’s very difficult to tell on a Friday because you
don’t know what people are doing, you don’t know what fuel people are
running. Previously, when it’s been very, very hot - I can really only think
of one race which is Valencia – I think we found it a little bit difficult,
but I think things have changed since then, and also we’re not going to have
such a hot race tomorrow.
LH: We don’t have any problems with it. |
