FM:
We are in the first race of our engine and everything but looking at what we did in the test the car looks more in the right direction. But let’s keep working and improving because we saw that our competitors were very close. If you look in qualifying they were very close and in the race as well, so we need to pay attention race by race and we need to keep working like crazy in the factory to improve the car in every area.
Q:
Lewis, I guess from your point of view with Ferraris on the front row to finish third in the Spanish Grand Prix is a great relief.
Lewis Hamilton:
Absolutely, it is good to be back. Obviously when we qualified fifth we knew that it would be very difficult to beat the Ferraris. But the key was to get a good start and make as many places as possible and fortunately I was able to do that. We sort of had a feeling that Fernando would be a bit lighter and that didn’t cause us any problems. Especially towards the middle stint and towards the end I had to try and keep up with Felipe as I knew he was a lap shorter than me, but they seem to look after their rear tyres a little bit better than us still. In the last stint I was able to keep quite close and pushing and pushing right to the last lap. It is amazing how close all the cars are. Even
Robert Kubica was extremely close to me and I kept looking in the mirrors at a certain point and he was always in the exact same spot. It is very impressive that all the teams are so close. It is good for the team. Unfortunately it was not a great day for Heikki and I am glad he is okay but we will keep pushing.
Q:
Into the first corner with Robert really defined the race for you. It was a close battle going into turn one but you won that.
LH:
I know from past experiences in F3 that Robert is one of the hardest to overtake. He is very aggressive on the first lap but I was able to get up the inside of him. I was pretty much passed him and I just had to make sure that I covered my ground. It was pretty smooth sailing from there. It was a good start from us. Again we have had two bad races, so to get back on the podium is fantastic.
Q:
What were you hearing on the radio and seeing on the big screen of Heikki’s accident?
LH:
I came past and saw there was a car in the wall. It just looked red, so I didn’t know if it was one of us or one of the Ferraris. I did see a glimpse of the footage on the television and it looked very reminiscent of my incident last year at the Nürburgring. I was a bit terrified for whoever it was as I saw the impact was quite heavy. The team told me it was Heikki but they didn’t know how he was immediately. But Ron Dennis came onto the radio half-way through and said he was okay but slightly concussed. I am sure he will bounce back
Q:
Afterwards did it cross your mind that it was a mechanical problem which may have affected your car as well?
LH:
No. If you let those things get to your mind then you are in trouble. You begin making mistakes or put yourself in the wrong position. It never crossed my mind once. I was quite confident we had done a great job and that the car was reliable. That enabled me to keep pushing.
Q:
Kimi, focusing on Turkey now and
Ferrari are obviously very strong there as well.
KR:
I think so. If you look what happened here last year it was quite similar. Last year was a different race. Our car should be quite strong in Turkey. It is a great circuit and I am looking forward to going there and trying to do the best job we can. As a team we had a great weekend here and we will try to repeat it in Turkey and hopefully we can do it. Whatever it brings we need points and whatever we get is always a bonus.
