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1 - Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren)
2 - Fernando ALONSO (Ferrari)
3 - Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)
Q: Lewis, describe your feelings after this win. It is one for you mum, hey?
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, absolutely. It’s my mum’s birthday this weekend and it
is great to be able to win while she’s here. I feel fantastic. I think it
was one of my best races. I said that to myself as I slowed down, just being
able to hold off one of the best drivers in the world throughout the race is
something that is very, very tough to do. Just looking after the tyres, just
managing the gap. Obviously the team did a fantastic job in the pit-stops,
but I’m ecstatic. Really very happy to be back up here. This is great. I can
get on my flight tonight and smile.
Q: Fernando, there is a lot of respect between you two at the moment. You
had a great start today, fifth up to second, and you almost got close enough
to Lewis at the second round of stops.
Fernando ALONSO: Yeah, it was a fantastic race for me as well with a very
good start and then a good first lap fighting with Jenson. Obviously with
the problem with Sebastian (Vettel) we found ourselves second and then we
fight all through the race more or less in a distance of three to five
seconds with Lewis. Then the last pit-stop we stayed two laps longer than
the McLaren and we were close I think. But we had some traffic in the pit
entry, behind one HRT, and I think we lost a little bit of ground. But,
anyway, with the last stint I think they had a little bit more pace so even
if we were able to overtake in the stop it was difficult to win the race so
extremely happy with second and enjoy this weekend.
Q: Jenson, a lot of battles with Mark Webber for you but it looked a bit
uncomfortable and did you radio in that you had some KERS problems.
Jenson BUTTON: Yeah, I did. I am not sure if my pace was entirely there on
the soft tyres anyway. I think it was about lap 13 or 14. I didn’t have any
KERS basically. I had to fend off Webber and also (Felipe) Massa which is
also quite interesting without KERS. Then in the next stint I was told what
I could do to try and get KERS back, and at least we got it back, but it
lasted for like two laps at a time and I had to keep resetting it. The
problem is it is not just when you accelerate, it is when you brake. When
you have KERS you have a lot of engine braking from the KERS and when you
don’t have it you don’t have any braking performance. Every time I arrived
at a corner I didn’t know what I was going to get, either engine braking or
not, so it was pretty tricky. But coming home and finishing third I am
relatively happy.
Q: Lewis, by your own admission it has been a tough few months. Does this
win put you well and truly back on track do you think?
LH: I don’t know. It is early days yet but this is definitely the start of
something hopefully very good. We’ve got another great race ahead of us in
Brazil and I have just got to put my focus on that and try to keep the
momentum, but you know how it goes. Anything can happen. I have just got to
keep my mind on the game.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Lewis, what were your thoughts when you saw Sebastian go off?
LH: I didn’t know which way it was going to go, so I was just trying to
avoid that. I saw immediately that something had happened to his tyre, and
that’s why he was going sideways. I was just making sure that I didn’t
collect him as he potentially [could come] across the track. After that, I
just saw that I had two very quick drivers behind me and I was just trying
to keep the gap. It didn’t really enter my mind at all, throughout the race.
Q: As you say you tried to keep the gap; that gap remained incredibly
constant up to the first stint, and then a different gap again remained
stable up to the second stop.
LH: Yeah, I think it’s very rare for us and for me to get the opportunity to
be able to maintain a gap, to be able to control the race but today I had
the pace, I was able to put in the laps when Fernando went quicker, and
whenever he closed the gap, generally was able to keep it the same or pull
out a little bit more. There was a point – I can’t remember which stint it
was – but he was closing the gap. It seemed like he would start a bit slower
than me in a stint and then get faster towards the end, so his tyres would
last longer but nonetheless, I’m very happy with how it went.
Q: There were one or two penalties for backmarkers; was there a problem with
backmarkers more here today than elsewhere?
LH: Just to point out that backmarkers have a tough job, because firstly
they’re just looking ahead, they’re competing for whatever position they’re
competing for and sometimes you just don’t look in your mirrors and
sometimes you’re probably just not expecting to be lapped or when that’s
going to happen. I’ve been in that position before and I think some of them
just didn’t see because they were fighting the guys in front, but some of
them were on their own and just stayed in front. I lost seconds behind
certain different people, and I think Rubens overtook me with the DRS; there
was nothing I could do about that. I came up back alongside him thinking
‘dude, I’m in the lead, we’re not racing’. He came and congratulated me
afterwards so that’s fine.
Q: Fernando, tell us about that fantastic start.
FA: I don’t think it was so good. At the start, I think we lost a little bit
of ground with Jenson, who was right in front of us in third, and we were
fifth. Then we braked and we risked, on the outside of turn one, to overtake
Mark, so we gained one position there. We gained one position with
Sebastian’s accident and then one position with the slipstream with Jenson.
I think we’ve had better starts than today, the start itself.
Q: Again, just to ask you about the gap to Lewis each time; I guess you were
pushing as hard as you could.
FA: Yeah, definitely. I think it was a time trial race, like an individual
race, not against the time. I was doing like qualifying laps every lap,
trying to close the gap, but one tenth up, one tenth down for the whole
stint, as you said. I think we were dominated by people who were catching
slower cars. When he [Hamilton] had some problems, I would maybe close the
gap by like two seconds; when I had a problem, the gap increased by two
seconds. We were dominated by how easy [it was to pass] or in which part of
the track you caught a slow car.
Q: What are your thoughts about the next race in Brazil?
FA: I’m looking forward to it; it’s the last race. To be honest, I already
want to have the last the race and to think about 2012 as soon as possible,
not to forget this year, because I think the year in general has been quite
good for the team and in general, with some good improvements from last
year, but obviously we were not able to fight for the championship. We had
only one victory this year so definitely next year is a big challenge for
us, and a big motivation to do better than 2011. So looking at Brazil, I
think the race there will be interesting. The weather is normally a little
bit unpredictable, so anything can happen there and hopefully with a
possibility to fight on the podium again.
Q: Jenson, a good third place but were your worst fears about DRS confirmed
or was it just compounded by the lack of KERS?
JB: Yeah. DRS was actually quite good round here, which was a pity for me. I
had a couple of good battles out there during the race but it was a lot more
difficult by not having KERS for a lot of the race. We found a way of
getting the KERS working again but the problem was it would only last for a
couple of laps and then it would stop working and there was no warning to
tell me it had stopped working so I would just lose all engine braking. It
was pretty tricky, so to get to the end and be on the podium, I am pretty
happy with that.
Q: Were you surprised at Mark Webber’s tactics?
JB: Yes, very surprised. I don’t know if they thought that I had the KERS
problem for the rest of the race because when I had the KERS problem I was
obviously a lot slower and he was pushing me around for 15 laps. As soon as
I sorted the problem out, I would go half a second quicker. I don’t know. It
was a strange decision to make but they also made a mistake on the first pit
stop, I think, which lost them a lot of ground. I think that really hurt him
and he wasn’t able to really challenge after that.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis, how do you rate this victory after
such a bad time?
LH: I don’t know. I’ve had some interesting victories, some better than
others. When I was doing the lap on the way in, I was thinking that this was
definitely one of my best, just in terms of my own performance, not making
mistakes. I don’t feel I’ve made a single mistake in the race and with the
things that have gone, with the pressure that I’ve been under and with the
doubt that has surrounded me, I felt just massively proud to have put that
kind of performance together and to have come out on top. I think my fans
have been incredibly supportive and so have my family, particularly more so
in the recent weeks and so that’s made a big difference. And it’s my Mum’s
birthday, so it makes it even better.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Fernando, after such a
disappointing race here last year, does the performance make it anything
special for you?
FA: Well, not really. I don’t think that we were thinking about last year
when we came here. It doesn’t change the feeling of last year when we lost
the championship at the last moment to be on the podium today. As I said on
Thursday, what makes this podium special is that I think I have 73 podiums
now, so 73 trophies in Formula One. I have them from all the circuits that I
have raced on in Formula One, so Magny-Cours, Indianapolis – circuits which
we are not racing on now and I missed only one at home, and that was Abu
Dhabi, because in the three years, I have never been on the podium. So now I
have completed all the circuits. So, happy.
Q: (Sudhir Chandran - Chequered Flag, India) Lewis, it seemed like that
whole of Abu Dhabi was rooting for this win for you. Could you feel the
energy and vibe in the crowd?
LH: Definitely, definitely. When we were doing the parade lap before the
race, I could see that there were a lot of fans, particularly from the UK
but also from here in Abu Dhabi. I was really surprised to see so much
support, but it’s great. It’s a great spectacle, a great circuit to come to
and a great country. Hopefully, it was a good race to watch. Obviously for
me it was probably not too exciting to watch me go round, but I don’t mind
having those races every now and then.
Q: (Naoise Holohan – Manipe F1) Lewis, would it have made the victory any
more special if you had beaten Sebastian on track rather than him retiring ?
LH: I don’t know really. I will tell you when it happens. I think we were
clearly very quick and it would have been very close. Sebastian got a great
start – again – and was off. From turn one he got quite a good exit from
turn one so he had a pretty good gap already. Every now and then, we need a
bit of bad luck to notice the good times, I guess, and I don’t remember the
last time he had a bit of bad luck.
Q: (Sarah Holt – BBC Sport) Lewis, I just wondered if you felt that this was
the first race weekend in a while when you felt like you’ve been able to get
on top of your emotions and for them not to affect you when you’ve been in
the car? Is that what has made the difference today?
LH: I don’t know. I definitely think that this weekend I’ve been clearer in
my mind and I’ve had less weighing on me, less thoughts and issues or
whatever problems that I’ve got. I was just able to drive clearly. I think
my qualifying has always been generally good and my practice has always been
pretty good but obviously in the last race I had that mistake which was… I
was just not thinking straight and this weekend I was able to think
straight. I don’t know if that’s because I had some great support here or
what, but it’s been a positive feeling all weekend. I felt like I was on it
all weekend so I just feel very fortunate to have come out and finish and
had the car last and not get into any trouble.
Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto, Motor und Sport) Lewis, how much could you see
of Sebastian’s accident. Is it possible that he was maybe too high on the
kerb with a full fuel load, which maybe damaged the tyre?
LH: I could see he went through turn two and it looked like his rear tyre
failed for whatever reason. He wasn’t on the kerb as far as I could see. I
only saw it happen after the kerb, so after the apex, but I just saw that
his tyre was deflated and the right rear was squashed up on the inside of
the floor and everything, so I assumed it was just a tyre failure.
Q: (Kate Walker – Girl Racer) Fernando, could you please tell us what was
going through your head in the second pit stop when you followed the HRT
into the pits? Did you see possible victory slipping from your sights?
FA: We knew that maybe we could overtake the McLaren at the second stop,
because when we saw Lewis pitting, we had the tyres in more or less good
condition to push for another two or three laps, so we did some good timed
laps, so the team was informing me that we should be OK maybe to exit in
front of him or maybe on the limit, very close. But even with that, I knew
that with 15 laps remaining, with the medium tyres, it was really difficult
to stay in front of Lewis. Definitely, with the traffic on the pit entry,
maybe we lost the opportunity to be close at the exit of the pits but I
don’t think that we lost the victory there. It was extremely difficult to
beat the McLaren today.
Q: (Naoise Holohan – Manipe F1) Jenson, you’re visiting Ireland next summer
for the Dublin F1 street demo on June 3. Are you looking forward to the trip
and have you any sightseeing planned? A few pints of Guinness perhaps?
JB: Wow, I normally don’t plan that far ahead. I’m glad. I actually did know
I was going. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. It’s a fun city, I’ve been
there a few times before and always had a good time. Yeah, looking forward
to the experience, and hopefully [I’ll] have a lot of support there. Looking
at all the Tweets that I’ve had about it, there’s a lot of interest so I’m
looking forward to it.
LH: Are you going to keep your moustache for that?
JB: I’m not sure actually. My missus likes it so I might just carry it. I’ve
got to shave it off tomorrow or else I might stick it to something so I can
put it back on. It takes me a while to grow it. |
