Malaysian GP - Post-race press conference - Pt.2
Drivers: Fernando Alonso (1st, Ferrari), Sergio Perez (2nd, Sauber) and Lewis Hamilton (3rd, McLaren).
Questions from the floor
Q: (Paolo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport)
Fernando, if they had told you after the first two races, with the car you have, that you would come home as the leader of the championship, what would you have thought. And also do you think, considering the car you have, that this is one of the best victories of your career?
Fernando Alonso: I don't know. I think after Barcelona if someone tell us you are becoming the leader of the championship after two races you don't have a clear answer. Maybe it's possible, maybe not. In Australia we were not competitive, here not competitive, especially in qualifying. Then in the race it seems we pick up the pace a little bit and there is no secrets. I think there is no secret. We are not having the easiest start to the championship with some problems in the car and some lack of pace but we are working on that, working day and night. I think Ferrari (has) proved over 60 years what they are able to do. In a way it's not a surprise but as I said in the press conference, this win changes nothing in the approach in the next coming weeks. In the next coming races we need to have a very aggressive approach in terms of the development of the car. We need to bring updates to every race because we are a little bit too far behind or more than what we want or what we expect.
Yeah, we start with inters, then we fit extremes, red flag, inters again, dry tyres, nearly night now. I remember the victory in Korea in 2010, it was also some kind of extreme conditions, as we had today. Every time there is a red flag there is stressful moments on the grid. It's very difficult to keep the concentration, to keep focus. We had other problems in the car. We lost telemetry, so I had to read the fuel every lap when we crossed the start-finish line. So there were a lot of things to do inside the car to keep under control the KERS etc. I was the only one knowing the charge. Without telemetry it's quite difficult for them. I think it was quite demanding but very happy obviously.
Q: (Adrian Rodriguez Huber - Agencia EFE)
Fernando, yesterday you pointed that there were only four people happier than you and now there's none. How important is this victory in terms of the psychological aspect - for you, the team and the fans?
Fernando Alonso: Obviously yesterday, and the days before, as I said before, we are not in the position we wanted, we are not quick enough but it was not a dramatic situation as some voices outside he team said. We just clarified that in Australia we finished fifth and there were only four guys happier than us. Now that we are leading the championship we should be quite proud of the job but as I said we need to work. From a psychology point of view, the win will make more motivation to the guys in Maranello. They don't need motivation because they work for Ferrari and they need to do the maximum for this red car and they know that, but after one win they will go tomorrow at eight o'clock to work with a smile and that maybe will give us some ideas.
Q: (Frederic Ferret - L'Equipe)
Sergio, what were you thinking of; each lap, you were doing fastest lap?
Sergio Perez: Yes, I was thinking of Fernando, waiting for him, as soon as possible, getting closer and closer. I was keeping my head down, also I had to save some tyres, trying not to degrade them a lot, because it was so easy in those conditions, especially towards the end of the stint on inters. I knew it was crucial to have good tyres towards the end of the stint, so I was catching him with quite good tyres but then he pitted and he pitted on the right lap. Again, I had to catch him again and I was catching him big time and then I just ran a little bit wide, I was obviously on the limit, trying to catch him and I touched the wet side of the kerb and I went straight on.
Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo)
Lewis, when the track became dry, the gap was not so big to first and second and we thought that in those conditions McLaren could be very very fast and maybe you could fight with them. Then suddenly you weren't catching them. What exactly happened in race conditions?
Lewis Hamilton: They were just very quick, equally as quick as me if not quicker. I was losing quite a lot of time in the mid sector. I'm not really sure exactly where I was losing the time and why but I had the option tyre on, I was pushing as hard as I could in the conditions. I probably could have gone from extremes to inters and inters to slicks - on both the stops I probably could have come in a lap earlier. These two probably did a better job there. In one of the pit stops I lost a good four or five seconds, just sitting there with some problem with the front right. After that I was trying to catch them, but we had 15 laps or something like that so I had to alter the car for the tyres as best as I could. I was being chased by the guys behind, so a little bit of lack of pace today from me, but I'm still fortunate to be here.
Q: (Kate Walker - GirlRacer)
Sergio, that was absolutely wonderful to watch, really exciting. Shortly before you went off, we heard the team on the radio telling you not to throw away any points. Was that a distracting call?
Sergio Perez: No, not at all. Obviously the team was worried. Obviously for us, second place means a lot so they were quite worried, I was going quite fast in difficult conditions. To keep the car on the track during the early stages of the race was quite a challenge, so we did quite well so it was a long race for the team, and I fully understand them. But no, it was not a distraction at all. I think they wanted the points as much as I did. I wanted the win because I saw it was possible. Unfortunately it didn't happen, but I'm still very happy and very proud of this second place.
Q: (Naoise Holohan - ManipeF1)
Checo, there's a lot of speculation at the moment that you might become Fernando's teammate later this year. Did you have a chat with Stefano about it when you were on the podium?
Sergio Perez: No, no, I only congratulated him. As a team they did a great job. And for me, my full commitment is with my team, with Sauber F1 team. It's only the second race of the season and there's still a long way to go so we have to keep improving, especially because we are a small team, so for us, it's getting closer to development, the others can improve more so it's important we remain focused. Obviously it's only rumours but no, I will stay with Sauber for the whole season.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi - La Gazzetta dello Sport)
Sergio, you said before that you were struggling with the front tyres; at the end, was it the wrong decision to go for the hard and not the medium in the last stint?
Sergio Perez: No, I think it was the right call. The degradation was not so bad, so I think it was the right call for us. Obviously I didn't have any new option tyres. The option wasn't working so well for us.
Q: (Manuel Franco - Diario AS)
Fernando, is this your best victory?
Fernando Alonso: I don't know. I think every victory tastes different. I think the conditions were more difficult than in some other victories. As I said, only at Korea do I remember these type of conditions, especially at the beginning when we had inters, the visibility was zero behind Webber and there was a crash in turn four between Grosjean and Michael and I think I passed just one centimetre from Michael's front wing. There were many factors in the race, especially in the first ten laps, which could put you out of the race very easily. I had two or three big moments in turn three and under braking for turn one. You arrive at 280 or 290 kilometers per hour with aquaplaning for 20 meters on the inters and then the car recovers thanks to God, so there were big moments throughout the race, so when you get a victory, it tastes better, for sure, but it's difficult. I'm very happy.
Q: (Ian Parkes - Press Association)
Lewis, last week you were seriously annoyed with third place. You bemoaned the fact that you'd gone backwards, as you put it. Why is third different this weekend when you've declared yourself satisfied?
Lewis Hamilton: I wouldn't say I was happy with third - I can never be happy with going backwards, but it's really just due to the conditions. Those two guys in front did a better job and today was just really trying to keep the car on the track and bring home some points and I did. The goal is always to try and be on the podium and stay consistent and so far I'm doing that, but of course I would like to be a little bit higher up so I'm going to try and focus on my race pace for the next race and see if I can convert a good position to a better result.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport)
Fernando, yesterday you said that your goal was to stay in front of Sauber, yesterday in qualifying. Would you have expected to be in front of him, to fight for victory? Is Sauber a big surprise to you?
Fernando Alonso: Obviously, yesterday ninth and tenth for me and for Sergio - neither of us probably ever thought we would fight for victory but we said yesterday... here the weather conditions are quite changeable so with the rain coming, everything changed and now we've found good pace in the car and good pace in wet conditions and it was a good fight. I think Sauber is doing a fantastic job this year. We saw in winter testing they made very good progress, they showed good potential in Australia, they showed super potential here, today, with a very good drive from Sergio. I think it's the tendency of this year. There is no big domination as we maybe had last year or the last two years and everything remains more open, so we need to take advantage of this.
Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport)
Fernando, how difficult was the call to slick tyres, because at that time, some drivers in the midfield had some very fast laps on slick tyres, but on the other hand some teams were reporting that there might be more showers, so any decision could have been the wrong one?
Fernando Alonso: Yes, it was a very difficult decision because, as I said before, we just wanted to do the same as other people behind us. It was not the time for us to take risks because we were leading the race so it was difficult conditions because as you said, the track was ready for dry tyres, they were doing quick times but the forecast said rain in the next five minutes, so if you put on dry tyres and then it rains you lose everything. I think Button or someone close to us or Vettel put on dries so it was time to make the decision so we pitted and then once Lewis and Sergio pitted as well, we were happy because if the rain came at that moment we were all in the same condition again. We only had doubts for one lap.
Q: (Ian Parkes - Press Association)
Fernando, Sergio has already talked about the possibility of driving for Ferrari and says he's committed to Sauber this season. But given that he's a member of the Ferrari Young Driver academy, do you see him talented enough to make the step up sometime soon?
Fernando Alonso: At the moment, as Sergio said, he is concentrated on Sauber, which is the obligation on the contract side. Ferrari's Driver Academy is doing a great job with young talents and I think if Sergio is in the Academy it's because Ferrari saw big talent in this guy. Today, the victory was not possible, but I think a win will come sooner rather than later for Sergio. At the moment, with Felipe, we are a very strong team, a very united team and I don't see any possibility not to race alongside Felipe, because I think we are a strong team. I think Felipe had some problems in the race in Australia but here, changing a couple of things in the car, he was competitive. Yesterday he was P12 and when it was red flagged he was already eighth, so I think with a normal race and hopefully when the car improves, Felipe and I need to be on the podium together. That's the goal for the remainder of the season.
Q: (Adrian Huber - Agencia EFE)
Sergio, you told me in an interview in Melbourne that you expected to be fighting for podiums, hopefully sooner rather than later, but did you expect it to be one week after that interview?
Sergio Perez: Not really. I knew that the car had the potential to fight in these kind of conditions because we were not so far off, so in this type of condition, maybe the driver can make a little bit more difference and if you get the right conditions and you make the right calls then you can be up there fighting as we were today. The victory was quite close, but I think all in all, it's a great day for me.
Q: Sergio, as we know in motor racing, catching somebody is one thing, getting past them is another. Did you have a plan?
Sergio Perez: Yes, I was just starting to plan because I knew Fernando was struggling, especially with the rears and I was struggling with the fronts and I was getting quite close to him in the fast section, but then I had a lot of understeer and the fronts were already degrading. I was just thinking where I was going to save some KERS and then I just touched the kerb and ran wide and it was over.
