Drivers: Heikki Kovalainen (Caterham),
Romain Grosjean (Lotus),
Timo Glock (Marussia),
Lewis Hamilton (McLaren),
Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and
Felipe Massa (Ferrari).
Questions from the floor.
Q: (Julien Febreau – L'Equipe).
Lewis, it seems that you're even stronger as a person than last year. Do you feel that way and if so, do you feel that your challenging season last year has helped you?
Lewis Hamilton:
I definitely think that the last three years have added to where I am today. I think there have been a lot of lessons learned and a lot of good and bad experiences which of course definitely help you when you have a good car and when you're in a much better position. Yeah, as for all athletes, I think you have to get your mind set in a certain way and there are many things that can affect that. For example, look at Tiger Woods. He's there and sometimes he's not and he's the best out there. It's really a massive mental game which is about trying to get your mind on the right path. But I feel that I'm there or thereabouts at the moment, still working hard.
Q: (Alex Popov – RTR).
Romain, you had a very intense race last Sunday in Shanghai. Your personal battle with [Pastor] Maldonado was perhaps even more than intense. Do you personally see it as revenge for Melbourne?
Romain Grosjean:
No, it's not revenge. I made a mistake with
Mark Webber which is why I had to fight with Pastor Maldonado. I think that the fight was a little bit tight. Honestly, I wish we hadn't touched each other's cars, but at the end, I ended up in front of him and then I could pull away and finish my race at my own pace and even overtook the second
Williams to score more points but that's what I was glad of.
Q: (Alex Popov – RTR).
Romain, did you have a lot to say to your engineer about your strategy during the race? Is there a lot of communication?
Romain Grosjean:
Well, there is a lot of briefing before the race when there is time to go through the strategies. We had two options basically: either two stops or three stops. The question arose during the second stint: either you really want to push and try to go for three stops, or you make your tyres last for the 20 or 25 laps that you need and you just go for two stops. I think our set-up was pretty good and the car was working very well on the prime tyres. The second stint was very good and we had pitted to cover Sebastian Vettel, if not, we could have done more laps in the second stint which would have made the third one even easier, but at the end of the story, my engineers did a good job, they helped me to save the tyres and make them last longer. When you are fighting with other cars, it's always difficult to save them. You have to realise that the race is long and that you still have a few laps to go.
Q: (Thomas Hanratty – Gulf Daily News).
Obviously there's been a lot of media hype in the build-up to this weekend; has it been much of a distraction for you, in terms of your preparations, or have you just been able to block everything out and keep focused?
Heikki Kovalainen:
It hasn't had the slightest influence on my preparation. I've prepared for the Grand Prix, physically and mentally, the same way that I do any other race. That's all I can answer to that question.
Romain Grosjean:
Well, we've been preparing for the event as well as we can. As you say, we can't ignore the situation but in another way, I hope the race may make a clear vision and help the situation and I think the Grand Prix will be nice.
Timo Glock:
No, we have made the same preparation as all the other races.
Lewis Hamilton:
They've said it all. The team has just been focusing on preparing ourselves for the best way of trying to get some wins.
Nico Rosberg:
No, we have been preparing to the best of my possibilities and the team's also.
Felipe Massa:
Yeah, the same preparation as always. We came here for the sport, that's the best thing to do, it's a sport.
Q: (Gary Meenaghan – The National).