It is important to have driven here before, but obviously the last time I drove here was two years ago, so obviously you're not going to nail it at the beginning, you're going to take a few laps to get it all back and this and that. And then lap by lap, get it slowly. I don't think it's a big track that makes a difference if you have been here before or not. I think it's more of a track where you need a lot of experience, that if you come here year after year, you know exactly the times when to push, when not to push and it's just the feeling of being comfortable. Knowing the track only by coming here once or twice I don't think is a big advantage. I think the biggest advantage is by knowing it for a long time and being able to absorb as much as you can from it by knowing the characteristics and knowing what to do at the right time: if the car's understeering, if you need to just drive more as the track is going to evolve or if you need to change the car. That's what I think.
SB:
Well, not really specific preparation, it's very difficult, obviously. We had the test in Paul Ricard which is what it is, but that's the only time we really had maximum downforce on the car, so that's just a taste of it, but to prepare for it is nearly impossible. As for the track, I came here three times before, it was quite a long time ago, and the track has changed in the meantime. Obviously there are a lot less guardrails at the apices and the visibility is a bit better and they put in some kerbs in some places as well. So I said the track is maybe a bit easier but going from an F3000 car to an
F1 car, the track is definitely going to feel a lot different and probably a lot narrower, so we will see what it feels like, but as far as I'm concerned, I know it's going to be a lot of fun and I will just try to take it one step at a time and not miss one, because usually that's the synonym of a crash.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi –
La Gazzetta dello Sport)
Felipe, we talked before with Alonso and he said that looking at last year's results,
McLaren will be favourite for this grand prix. Do you believe that it would be an advantage for you to have Lewis under pressure at this grand prix because he has to recover and quickly?
FM:
I don't know. For sure it's difficult to say. McLaren will certainly be very competitive, as they were in the last races. If you look at the last races, it was pretty close between both Ferraris and both McLarens. I don't think it changes a lot if you're under pressure or not. I was under pressure in Bahrain and I won the race. It doesn't matter. If you have a good car, you always have good possibilities to win races. We need to wait and see on Sunday and also Saturday how the situation is going to be in qualifying and be aware that we can be competitive as well and we need to challenge them.
Q: (Rodrigo Franca –
VIP Magazine)
Question for all four drivers: during this week, there is a lot of synergy between motor racing and cinema, due to the Cannes Film Festival, a few kilometres from here. I would like you to choose your best movie ever in your opinion and why?
FM:
I love many movies, but the one I love most is the 24 Hours series. I'm crazy for that. I watch all the series and really love that.
GF:
I like an Italian film,
Febbre da Cavallo, but maybe one of the best films for me is
Titanic, which is very romantic and is a true story.
NP:
Difficult to say what is my favourite movie, but I enjoy the 24 Hours series a lot, and yesterday in Cannes I saw
The Exchange with Angelina Jolie, which I enjoyed a lot. It was probably in the top five films that I've seen. It was a really really good film. I saw the preview yesterday.
SB:
I've always found it very very difficult to compare movies, between action movies, comedies and everything. I can never really pick one, but I like movies a lot.
