Drivers: Alex Premat (ART),
Lewis Hamilton (ART) 4th
Nelson Piquet Jr (Piquet Sports)
NB: Third placed Michael Ammermuller was unavailable for the press conference
Press Conference
GP2 Series:
Alex, congratulations on your win, although it was a little controversial. Can you tell me about that last lap?
Alex Premat:
Yes, the last lap was really good because for five laps I was getting very close to Lewis, and at that corner I was braking a little late I think, and maybe when I pushed hard on the brake I also pushed on the throttle and slid a little bit and I touched him. Unfortunately I'm sorry for Lewis because he had a good race, but I think I was much faster at the end of the race. So I am very happy with this result.
GP2 Series:
A strong weekend in general for you: do you think you've made a step forward?
Alex:
Yeah for sure, I think I have been strong since the beginning of the event, and it's really good: in practice I was faster, in qualifying I was faster, also with Nelsinho and Lewis I had some troubles with traffic, so for sure since the beginning of the season I have had some problems in Valencia, Imola and the Nurburgring, so I think it's finished and now I need to move back to Lewis and Nelsinho in the championship, to win a lot of races and maybe to win the championship.
GP2 Series:
Lewis, how did you see that final lap incident?
Lewis Hamilton:
The last five laps my tyres were finished as I'd made a very early pitstop, and the last fifteen laps was really tough for me to try and stay consistent and keep the gap between me and Alex, and in the last five laps he was just getting closer and closer. In the last lap he got the run on me from turn nine, and I thought there was enough of a gap so I didn't go to the inside, and as I was turning in I saw that Alex was heading to that side, so I tried to give as much room as possible. I thought I'd given enough room at the exit, and as I accelerated away I think Alex just touched the rear or the side of me and spun me round, which is unfortunate. But this is racing, and fortunately I managed to get second, and I was lucky because I just managed to pull the clutch and kept the motor running, because otherwise it would have been pretty disappointing, but I managed to get the points which is the most important thing for me and for the team.
GP2 Series:
You seemed to have a bit of a slow start: what happened there?
Lewis:
It wasn't a slow start, it was terrible! I don't really know what happened there; maybe I didn't quite have the biting point, maybe the clutch slipped a bit, but as soon as I released the brake I didn't move! But after I got away the team decided to pull me in on the first lap, and after I came out I just pushed really hard for the first ten laps and it turned out pretty good, and I came out ahead of most of the guys ahead of me.
GP2 Series:
Nelson, the race looked to be yours and then you got the drive through penalty: what happened in the pitlane?
![Alexandre Premat - ART Grand Prix [pic credit: GP2 media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/209402.jpg)
