Q:
As you’ve said, an encouraging day in some ways, given that
Ferrari were concerned about these high downforce circuits and particularly this track, and you were right there.
KR:
Yeah, but that shows that in qualifying we could not really use our car as we want, we are not quick enough in qualifying in this sort of circuit but in race pace I think we were on the pace. For sure, when we go back to normal circuits like Turkey, our car should be pretty good there, so we try to do the best we can there, get some points back. It’s going to be hard but there are many races to go. One bad race and things can change quickly. We’ve seen that this year already.
Q:
Nick, your second successive third place here at the Hungaroring and a three stop strategy, an interesting race, and a very strong race for you.
Nick Heidfeld:
Actually it was quite clear early in the weekend that we would go for a three stop, knowing that the option tyres could be difficult for a longer stint. On top of that, we wanted to start pretty much in the front, for the race, so we qualified a bit lighter in Q3 but as we’ve seen, it worked out.
Q:
And how was the option tyre, as it turned out?
NH:
It was quite good. Actually I would say we expected that, that’s why we made the last stint relatively short, it was not such a high fuel load, which helps the tyres. On top of that, the circuit was rubbered in quite well at the end and I also tried not to push them too hard in the first couple of laps, to make sure I didn’t get bad graining, especially with Fernando behind. The corner that affected them most was always the last corner and that was the most important for me, to be quick there and keep him behind.
Q:
What was the pressure like from your point of view, where did you feel he was quicker?
NH:
I think he was a bit quicker everywhere, at one point. Probably seven laps to the end, I thought he backed off a bit but I know that with Fernando you can never be sure. Actually at this point I tried to pick up the pace again a bit, because there was a backmarker in front of us that was pretty quick and I didn’t want to get close into his dirty air with Fernando behind me, and then in the last one, I tried to push very hard again, but as we know, it’s not so easy to overtake in Hungary.
Q:
Lewis, a certain irony in the weekend. By your own admission you did change things a little bit yesterday in Q3 in terms of the team strategy and you ended up on the pole and you’ve won the Grand Prix. You didn’t get the fastest lap, an ironic day in some respects.
LH:
Yeah, I don’t know really what to say about that but all I know was I think today, with some of the problems I had, it probably made it one of the hardest races I’ve ever had to do, so it’s even more satisfying that I had to push that bit extra to keep Kimi behind. But just to get the points – it’s so important for me and I think for the moral of the team to show that we have the pace and that we can beat everyone.
