Post qualifying press conference

By Greig Murray
August 17 2002

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Qualifying press conference
FIA - Press release Hungarian GP

1. Rubens Barrichello.
2. Michael Schumacher.
3. Ralf Schumacher.

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Question Rubens, on your second run you had a big twitch in the final corner, was it bumpy there?

Rubens Barrichello: It is a bit bumpy in the last corner, that's correct, but I think everyone is having a difficult time. The circuit has always been known to be a bit dirty on Friday but it clears up, but because of the rain that has been happening here lately, it's still a bit dirty, so the last corner is especially quite difficult and to be honest, I think to get everything done correctly today was very, very difficult, so it was a little bit of a compromise.

Question You must be very pleased with your afternoon's work.

Rubens Barrichello: I am and since this morning the first run wasn't great and then we improved the car a lot and we worked very well on the car so I'm pleased. It's just one line that everyone is following and to get off-line a little bit is most definitely a spin so tomorrow is going to be a difficult race.

Question Michael, you just didn't quite manage to get pole today, even though you got close.

Michael Schumacher: Yes, that's correct, simply because he was doing a good job and I couldn't match it.

Question Was it planned that you only used three sets of tyres?

Michael Schumacher: Well, to some degree you try to do it but then on the other hand you would like to have it available as a back- up for a last run. Time-wise it didn't make sense any more to do so and therefore we used three sets in three runs.

Question Ralf, you seemed to be chasing the set-up all weekend, but you were second fastest early on. What did you do to change your car?

Ralf Schumacher: Well, we've had a very, very difficult weekend so far, a lot of ups and downs, and since we couldn't find a way round we tried something very dramatic on our car, totally the opposite to what we were working on, and it has worked out. I must say the team did a brilliant job in achieving this.

Question On your third run, we saw you go straight on. Was there any damage?

Ralf Schumacher: No, basically the back end turned too early into the corner, earlier than the front end, it's called oversteer, and that happened to me. That's what I'm always complaining about. We made an additional change which didn't turn out to be the right one.

Question Rubens, what chance another win tomorrow?

Rubens Barrichello: Well, I'm looking forward to it because starting from pole position I have the best chance as the track is cleaner on that side, so just being positive and trying to win.

Question Rubens, that seemed to be a more conventional pole position than some of you other poles. Did you enjoy it?

Rubens Barrichello: You always say it like that. The last one was already very conventional I guess, but it is always good. When I first started here, a long time ago back in 1993, it was a circuit that I didn't enjoy much. It was very difficult to get the car right and so on, and although it is still a circuit where you don't overtake and you have some problems where all the drivers say, you have to find something good about it and the good thing is that the circuit is really difficult to set up the car right and so on. So the enjoyment came from there and trying to get everything right. Since this morning the car has been a better car, I looked confident but I didn't know where I could stand. We knew the Ferrari with Bridgestone could be a really good factor this afternoon, but I was just there to fight, but it looked good, very good.

Question So were you still changing the car during qualifying?

Rubens Barrichello: Well, in qualifying to be honest it was a bit less, just the small fine-tuning like everyone does, but I lost my first run to the spin. It was actually very close but I decided to back off because I saw the smoke. I saw two cars going to the right and I had the feeling that they were there to let me by and all of a sudden I saw this smoke and I braked and I just saw Button spinning out. Then on the second run I didn't change the car, I went for it, the third run I went very early with a small change but I didn't like it so I went back to the set-up of the second run and I tried it again.

Question It was interesting that the last lap, where you did improve by a few fractions, you weren't actually fastest in any of the sectors.

Rubens Barrichello: Yeah, I reckon the track was getting a bit hotter and a bit more difficult as well because a lot of people had been off the track and bringing a lot of dust onto the track but the third sector wasn't quite good for me and I think that was the only one I improved on the last run which improved my time.

Question Michael, it seemed to come down to a huge twitch in the final corner on your third run which lost you time in the final sector. Was that the case?

Michael Schumacher: I had one little wobble where I lost a little bit of time, but I think it was mainly in turn 12, a little bit in the last corner but more in turn 12. It is very tight and that is enough to not catch him.

Question Here, where pole position is so vital, is it a worry that you are on the dirty side of the track?

Michael Schumacher: It certainly doesn't help, so we have to find out. The point is that we have to look to not drop back any position that is the target. You can't expect from the dirty position to make a position. That is probably unrealistic.

Question And a brother and a teammate against you as well.

Ralf Schumacher: His teammate is always with him!

Question It's going to be an exciting start isn't it?

Michael Schumacher: Yeah, that's what we are here for, excitement.

Question Ralf, having not had a very good practice up until now were you a bit surprised to be third?

Ralf Schumacher: It looked worse this morning, yeah, and as I said before in the press conference we changed the car a lot which made it possible to do third today.

Question Could it have been fine-tuned to get a little bit more speed?

Ralf Schumacher: We tried various things. I have never had a qualifying session where we have tried so many things to be honest, but for most of us it seemed to be difficult in the later part of the session to improve the lap times, so it was for me. I had an off and we changed in the wrong direction and in the last run it was okay but still not good enough to improve my time.

Question Would more heat have been better?

Ralf Schumacher: It was pretty warm, it could have been five to ten degrees more, yeah.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Question To all of you, we asked a question earlier about the advertising painted on the circuit. Did you notice that advertising and did it make any difference?

Rubens Barrichello: It is very noticeable. I don't think it is a problem unless it is wet which could have been a problem. It shouldn't be too much of a drama but I hope it isn't wet to find out that it is a problem.

Question Michael, anything to add?

Michael Schumacher: I think it is unfair because we can't read it.

Ralf Schumacher: I personally hope that it is the last time we see anything like it because the problem is if you have one to start with sooner or later the whole circuit is full of it and that is going to be a problem especially in the wet.

Question Michael, a week ago in America there was a woman driver on pole position in an IRL race. What are your views on women coming into Formula One?

Michael Schumacher: I don't see any reason why a woman shouldn't have the capability of doing what we do, honestly. You see some athletes and I guess they are fitter than we are.

Question For all of you, do you know how long you take to go from the pit entry to pit exit?

Michael Schumacher: Sure, you sort of have to know that for working out your strategy. To get into the pit is part of the circuit so you try to be as fast as possible.

Question Do you think drivers lose or gain time significantly there?

Michael Schumacher: I don't think one of the top drivers does, no.
Rubens Barrichello: It's the same thing, you cannot leave the space for yourself to lose time. Everything you can gain you have to work out. There is time to be gained on entrance and exit, everywhere.
Ralf Schumacher: Nothing to add, basically.

Question Do you have an idea how much is the time between the fastest and the slowest?

Rubens Barrichello: You should look at the FIA timings and work them out. Why do you want to know that? You should read that after the race. It is such a simple thing, there will be drivers faster in and out and you have to be careful because on the way in it is a bit dirty as well so you could lose more time than gain so it is a compromise, but after the race we get together and I show you on the paper!

Question To all of you, it seems more teams may disappear from Formula One. They are not in contest with you, but would you miss them?

Rubens Barrichello: I think it is bad not to have Arrows here because Formula One is something that we all want to be winners but at the end of the day my memory goes back to when I was a go-karter and I went to Rio to see the race there and there was 36 cars there trying to pre-qualify and then go to qualifying. I guess that was a lot better for the public, a lot better for Formula One and it was a lot more interesting so it is sad to see only 20 cars running right now.

Ralf Schumacher: Well, basically every team is important to Formula One but then even in the past you had a lot of changes and I am sure someone will take over and the situation will be similar next year, but as I said every single car is important to what we are doing, even if they can't win.

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