Q:
Once the race began in Melbourne, even from where you started on the grid, you were very quick. How does the car compare here in terms of its feel and grip level with Melbourne?
KR:
I think this is a more normal circuit, so the car has been quick all weekend. I think we are seeing two completely different circuits but our car should be fast anywhere but when you start from behind it is very difficult to show your speed. Tomorrow should be a bit clearer about who is where and what kind of speed everyone is doing.
Q:
Felipe obviously has the clean side of the road off the line. Without traction control now how do you anticipate it is going to be on the dirty side of the grid?
KR:
I don’t know. It is very difficult to say. Hopefully we will get a good start and it is up to us much more now than it was before. In the last race we had a very good start, so hopefully we can manage to do that also tomorrow.
Q:
Congratulations to you, Heikki. Your second successive P3 in qualifying and just ahead of your team-mate
Lewis Hamilton. First of all from a personal point of view your feelings about qualifying third behind the two Ferraris and being the fastest
McLaren driver.
Heikki Kovalainen:
Of course, we were hoping to do a couple of places better but, obviously,
Ferrari, they have both been very fast here all weekend and we had nothing more to give today. I think third place was the maximum we could achieve today. I am happy about that. It was a clean lap without any big mistakes. It was pretty much the same story as I had in Melbourne, just trying to go step by step and increase the pace as I get used to the team and the car. I think we are on a very good track and still in a good position to start with tomorrow and we will see how the strategy goes. But we will still aim to do the maximum job tomorrow and see what happens.
Q:
Does the McLaren feel more difficult to drive here? Does the grip level feel lower than in Melbourne, if you could compare the two?
HK:
No, not really. It feels pretty similar. I think our balance is very similar to what it was in Melbourne and I think the fact is we didn’t see the true pace of Ferrari in Melbourne. They both had some problems in qualifying or in the race, so I think this is more representative between the pace of the teams. But anyway, like I said, the race is tomorrow and we are still in a good position. By no means the game’s over. Tomorrow we can attack and we will see what we can do.
Q:
Felipe, every race win you have had, has been from pole, so this is a good start to the weekend. This is always a difficult race physically for the drivers. Perhaps you could reflect on both those points and how you anticipate the race is going to be from a physical point of view tomorrow?
FM:
The race will be very physical here. It is not so physical, but it is also very hot. The humidity we have here is so high and you lose a lot of water from the body. For sure when you get from the middle to the end of the race you start to feel it a little bit just because you are sweating so much. But I am really looking forward to having a strong race and strong physical preparation as well.
Press conference:
