Drivers: Alex Premat (ART),
Lewis Hamilton (ART),
Nelson Piquet Jr (Piquet Sports)
NB: Third placed Michael Ammermuller was unavailable for the press conference
Questions from the floor:
Q:
Alex, the accident today looked quite similar to one you had with Nico last year, in Hungary I think. Do you think it was like that?
Alex:
Monza. Yes for sure it was maybe the same thing with
Nico Rosberg, but it was the beginning of the race on the first lap, and this was the last lap, so it's not really the same thing! When I explained last time I braked quite late and he opened a little bit, and I climbed the kerb and hit the gas very early, maybe too early, and the car flew like I don't know! It was the same thing, and I am very sorry for Lewis.
Q:
Lewis, you mentioned your bad start: was it something on the car, or just one of those days?
Alex:
I think it was just generally a bad start for me. My last start at the last race was quite good, but today I don't think I released the clutch enough, or maybe the clutch was slipping: I'm not sure, and I have to check the data, but it definitely wasn't a good start and I need to get a better one tomorrow.
Q:
Nelson, in the first three laps you opened three or four seconds and then you controlled the pace: was it part of the strategy to go fast for the early laps and then to slow down a bit?
Alex:
No, I think in GP2 you can't really make a strategy for when to stop, because it all depends on when the cars behind you stop and how quick you are after that. Of course I was pushing hard at the beginning of the race to get a gap from Premat, but I was also conserving the tyres in case I had to run with them for a long time. If I pushed I could have gone a bit quicker, but I would have finished the tyres.
Q:
You guys are being very polite, and I have the feeling that you [Alex] are saying you weren't trying to pass him and you [Lewis] are saying you were letting him pass…
Lewis:
I never said I was letting him pass: he is my teammate, and it's only fair that I give him a bit of room, otherwise we would have crashed anyway, and as he said he tried to accelerate as quick as possible and both of our tyres were quite slippery at that time, and he said that he made a mistake.
Alex:
I think we are more racing at ART, because ART are very strong, and Nelsinho for example is really better than Negrao, so it is really hard for Nelsinho and Negrao to crash but Lewis and me are very similar in driving, so there is more risk of this for sure. We had the same thing with Nico Rosberg last year.
![Alexandre Premat - ART Grand Prix [pic credit: GP2 media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/209402.jpg)
