FM:
I don’t know. I hope so. At least it’s the best I could have done today, so it helps a lot for the race tomorrow and for sure it’s quite nice and special for me to come here and have the third pole in a row on this track.
Q:
You were saying how much you enjoy this circuit, apart from turn eight. Tell us about its attractions.
FM:
Well, it’s a very nice circuit. Everybody knows that turn eight is very challenging for all the drivers. You need a good car there, for sure, but it’s very challenging. But also I like the layout. You have quite a bit of change of direction in the first sector, turn one which is quite tricky because you brake and you never know if you brake in the right place or maybe a little bit too much or too early, because it’s a bit downhill and a bit tricky there. And also you have the last sector which is pretty slow. You have everything in one track which is quite nice.
Q:
When you set that time in Q1, a high 1m25s, fastest that we’ve seen all weekend, did you think then you could be on pole?
FM:
No, for sure not, because I think Lewis did a fantastic lap time straight away which for us was already a little bit… we were already thinking that we were not as strong as we looked in practice. But at the end, I think it was maybe coming from us that we didn’t do the right lap and then I tried another set of tyres to be sure, and then I managed to do a very good lap but then in Q2 on soft tyres I was a little bit in traffic and was a little bit disturbed on my lap. I was a little bit behind but then in Q3 I had two very clean laps, very good, and I was able to get the best out of the car.
Q:
And were there any problems warming up the tyres? It’s been a problem for a lot of people this weekend.
FM:
Yeah, I think it was a big problem yesterday. Today has been a little bit better and slightly better in qualifying but I think it’s very difficult because you cannot push so hard but you cannot go very slowly on the out lap, especially for us. It is not so easy to have the right grip straightaway at the beginning of the lap and while you can do a very very good lap on one tyre, sometimes you put on the same tyres but then you just lose a little bit, maybe it’s coming from the out lap, maybe it’s coming from grip or whatever.
Q:
Heikki, you seem to have bounced back even stronger.
HK:
Yeah, maybe it was good to get hit on the head in Barcelona but I very much doubt that, to be honest! I’ve felt very happy all the way through the weekend here and the most important thing is that arriving here, I felt one hundred percent fit and I would have not turned up here if I didn’t think I was in full health and fitness. We’ve done a lot of tests and a lot of medical checks and very heavy exercising leading up to this Grand Prix, just to test the barrier after the incident, but I was able to survive that incident which is great news. This is one of the circuits that I really like. I’ve always enjoyed here and driving around here, so I was very much looking forward to coming here. And then today, I think qualifying went quite well. Some of the laps were better than the others but we went through all the sessions and then coming to Q3, the first lap was a bit all over the place, was not very clean, but the second lap was much tidier and everything came together. Hopefully tomorrow we can do a good race from this position. It’s my best starting position in
Formula One, so it’s looking good at the moment.
Q:
Yes, surely that’s another milestone ticked off, the fact that you’re on the front row for the first time.
HK:
Yeah, but it’s not that big a milestone. It would be better to be on pole, then you would be happier. But it’s better to be second than behind.
