TV unilaterals
Q:
Robert, let's go back to the pit lane after the first pit stop and there you were at the end of the pit lane with
Kimi Räikkönen waiting for the red light. I guess you were aware of what happened with Kimi and
Lewis Hamilton.
Robert Kubica:
Yeah, we were pitting everybody together in the same lap behind the safety car. The red light was still on at the exit of the pit lane, similar to last year when I stopped. Kimi stopped side-by-side to me and I just heard a big shunt and saw Kimi's car moving. I realised it was Lewis. I just kept my concentration on waiting for the green light and managed to pull away well. Then I was stuck behind slower cars and couldn't make an overtaking manoeuvre. The last car went into the pits, I think it was
Timo Glock, and then I had eight laps to make 16 or 17 second margin to come back after my pit stop in front of Nick. That was my seven laps of qualifying. I never struggled so much and I was pushing very hard as I knew I had to make around a 21 second gap and I managed to do 24, so it was a great race.
Q:
What were the track conditions like in the second part of the race when you were pushing so hard and indeed how difficult was it to maintain your patience when you were in that traffic?
RK:
Well, it was not easy. It is always hard when the safety car is coming in and I was a bit unlucky as if I missed three seconds I would have come in and the pit lane would still have been open. But when I was approaching the pit lane entry the yellow lights started flashing, so I couldn't go into the pit lane. I was a bit unlucky. Then I struggled with slower cars with
Fernando Alonso being behind me and trying to overtake. Also the drivers were fighting, so I was losing a lot of lap time to the leaders. But finally I managed to make a good gap. The last few laps were very, very difficult. I was not pushing and the team were saying stay calm and don't push too much. I was not pushing for 10-15 laps already. It was just amazing. As soon as you go off line you have tarmac destroyed and you hit sand, so it was very, very difficult.
Q:
Can you describe your emotions and what it feels like to win your first grand prix when you think back to your early days? What does it mean to win here in North America where there are many Poles living?
RK:
It is fantastic to win my first race for
BMW Sauber which I joined from the beginning. We have grown up together and thanks to the team for providing a good car and we managed to do a first and second. Maybe the pace is still not the best but at this race we were right there. The first stint I couldn't match Lewis' pace as we had some pressure problems but afterwards we changed the pressure and the car felt very good. But it was a fantastic race and fantastic for me, for my country and for the fans. Thanks to them for cheering for me in Canada.
Q:
Nick, there were almost as many leaders here as in the 1971 Italian Grand Prix. Seven leaders and you were one of them. Obviously you were on a different fuel strategy than Robert and it was difficult for you but a great result at the end of the day.
Nick Heidfeld:
Yeah, obviously I am very happy with second position. I am very happy for Robert and for the team – our first-ever one-two. It was a good race for me and a good result in the situation I am in at the moment. I have been struggling a bit lately and I think we have seen over the weekend that it was going better for me. I had a poor start and fell back behind
Rubens Barrichello. I overtook him and then I think I had probably the best pace in the field apart from Lewis on hard tyres and that was good. Then I was lucky that I was quite long on my first stint strategy, so I could build a nice gap and even got out ahead of Robert for the second stint. Then at this stage we decided to convert me to a one stopper with soft tyres which I think was the right choice. But on the soft tyres I struggled. I had seen that yesterday in qualifying and that didn't make it easy.
Q:
How difficult was it on that
Bridgestone option? I think you did 40 odd laps on that tyre?
