Q:
Felipe, a difficult day for you. But talk about the start?
Felipe Massa:
For sure I expected maybe a different race because the pace of Lewis at the beginning was so quick. By then I knew they were much quicker than us here on the track. Even looking at the pace in the race I would say I did a good qualifying because they had a good pace. Also in the race in the first stint he was just half-a-second per lap quicker and when it is like that you cannot do anything. Then just after the safety car we did the normal job, the team did a good job but it was more or less the normal job. Maybe Lewis was a bit too optimistic on the safety car. We restarted the race and I saw the pace of the car and the brakes and we had the hard tyres as the soft were so difficult to drive as well and I just couldn't have the pace. It was just slow with difficult stability and also on braking I think I had a little problem as well and lost a lot of performance. I didn't have the car to fight. I tried but it was not possible. At the end of the day it was a good race because we finished third. Even with a little bit more than the middle of the season the championship is open. We need to work very hard for sure. But I trust the team and I know they are going to work very hard and we are going to have a competitive car for the next races. Also I welcome Nelson. It is very nice. I am sure he is feeling a great time. The feeling to be on the podium the first time I remember. It was two years ago at the Nürburgring and I was so happy, like a child, I am sure he is very happy and I welcome him to this nice place in
F1.
Q:
Lewis, your fourth win in a season and second in a row. You are leading the championship by four points, which is not much, but a nice momentum.
LH:
Yeah, overall it's been a very good weekend. I think it has been our best weekend up until now. I think we have just been very strong throughout the weekend as well as last week's test. But like I said it's just been a great job by the team. We are really on top of our game right now. But I think we have not to get too far ahead of ourselves. We have got a lot of work to do for the rest of the season but if we can continue with this momentum we have got we are looking very good. So on to the next race and Hungary is a very good one for us, so fingers crossed.
Press conference:
Q:
Lewis, tell us about the start and the early stages. You just seemed to be pulling away so easily.
LH:
Yeah, I felt very confident at the beginning that we had a good strategy and a good car. I got a great start, not really much hassle from Felipe or anyone behind, and I was just able to focus on my job then. I just felt at home. I was just driving nice and smoothly and consistently and surprisingly, I was pulling away, by half a second a lap, I think. By then, I was just comfortable just trying to pull the gap and surprise, surprise, the safety car comes out and… it was no surprise, I had a feeling something like that would happen, that's motor racing. That was just before the second stop. We decided to stop a bit early at the first stop just to avoid any safety car issues which was a good call and then we got caught, which made it a lot harder.
Q:
Just now, when Peter asked you about staying out and not coming in, you said ‘everyone makes a…' and then you stopped yourself. Do you think the team made a mistake not calling you in?
LH:
I think we probably should have come in but, at the end of the day, I don't understand exactly what's going on behind me, and I have to have full confidence in the guys who tell me what to do. I'm totally with the decision they made. For sure, we could have perhaps done a better job but nevertheless we were quickest and it just made my job a little bit harder but I just told Ron ‘that's what you hire me to do. This is what I'm here for.'
Q:
Just now, you also said you needed around a 23s lead before your second stop but you had a 13.7s lead before you came in.
