Post-race press conference - Malaysian GP - Pt.1.

Drivers: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), Juan Pablo Montoya (WilliamsF1-BMW) and Jenson Button (BAR-Honda).

TV unilaterals:

Malaysian GP winner Michael Schumacher [Ferrari] on the podium with Juan Montoya [2nd] and Jenson Bu
Malaysian GP winner Michael Schumacher [Ferrari] on the podium with Juan…
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Drivers: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), Juan Pablo Montoya (WilliamsF1-BMW) and Jenson Button (BAR-Honda).

TV unilaterals:

Q:
Michael, you thought it might be more difficult here and it looked a little tense on occasions. Early in the race, Juan Pablo put some pressure on you, but ultimately, it was another great win.

Michael Schumacher:
Yeah, it's true. In the moments where we needed to be quick we were just quick enough - at the beginning of the stint and at the end of the stint. But the beginning of the race was very tough as it was so unpredictable, where the water was, and how much there was. Being the first car having no reference didn't really help so I had to be cautious and, at the same time, be careful of Juan and not give him an opportunity. And then, each time after the pit stops and before the pit stops it opened up and closed down quite rapidly at those stages so it was a tough fight until the end and it wasn't granted at all, until the end.

Q:
Was it a hard race? We talked about the heat but obviously it wasn't quite as hot today, but there was pressure all the way?

MS:
It was pressure all the way, and Malaysia is a tough circuit. It is still hot enough to make it a hard race. It would have been even harder if the sun had shone but I didn't mind not having the sun and I guess my colleagues (didn't) too.

Q:
Juan Pablo, you set fastest lap after your second stop. You were able to put pressure on Michael at various stages of the race. Talk us through the race from your point of view.

Juan Pablo Montoya:
I think it went pretty well. In the first few laps I got in front of Rubens. He made a mistake. Then I was trying to catch Michael towards the end of the race. The car got better, the tyres were just getting better and better and better. It was a shame I came out of the last stop behind Rubens. I went to pass him straight away but he blocked me. In a non-Ferrari, it's better to back off than try to... you know, it's better to go home with eight points than out of the race.

Q:
You did get close to Michael. How did you think the two cars compared? Do you think we've got a championship?

JPM:
It's very hard to say, you know. It's very early days. The car still needs quite a bit of work because in the end we're not trying to be at their level but above really, and to be above you need to have a car that is consistent enough to win everywhere. And they have the car. We're close in places but we still need to do quite a lot of work. But the guys did a very good job here.

Q:
Jenson, you must feel elated. The moment is yours, talk us through your emotions?

Jenson Button:
Amazing. You know it's as much the team's as mine. They've worked so hard for this. It's obviously not the pinnacle of what we want but it's a good step in the right direction, so I'm ecstatic and I can't wait to get back to the team and congratulate them.

Q:
You did a superb job throughout the race, a little bit of a race there with Jarno Trulli early on and then I guess, late in the race, when your team-mate's engine went, that might have been a bit of a worry was it?

JB:
It was a little bit, yes, but I also touched Jarno after the start, we hit wheels on the straight so that was a little worry, because I thought something might be wrong. But everything felt fine and I had a good fight with him for the first few laps in the damp conditions. And it was great to have a gap to the car behind me, because here, for the last two years, I've had cars breathing down my neck on the last lap, so it's nice to have a bit of a gap.

Q:
Michael, I couldn't help but notice that you were able to get the exact right beat at the end of the Italian national anthem there on the podium - a lot of practice now. How do you see the season progressing? It must be quite difficult leading the championship as you are now? Where do you go from here, how do you stay on top?

MS:
I think it's easier to lead the championship, from the position we are in than to come from where we had to come last year. But no doubt it's only two out of 18 races, 16 to go and we all know how quick development can be for various teams. I think it's going to be a hard year, honestly. We have another tough race to come in Bahrain. Nobody knows exactly what's going to happen there, what sort of characteristics it has, who it favours and what's going to happen in the meantime with development for the various teams. But the sort of difficulties that we've had here in the past, specifically with our tyres, I have to say Bridgestone have done a fantastic job. We have had to overcome that and to compete in such conditions, which are extreme conditions and I'm really happy for them, that they have fought their way back and we are where we are.

Press conference:

Q:
Michael, you were talking about the conditions on the opening laps. How much rain was there, how wet was it?

MS:
The very first lap there was just a little bit in turn four, for whatever reason, very slippery in turn eleven and then OK, but then rain came again in turn four and in turn eleven. In certain corners, during the first five or six laps spots of rain came here and there but it was corner dependent and you didn't know how much rain there was, and how wet it was on the next lap. It was very unpredictable, very tricky.

Q:
What about your start and that opening lap? You'd opened up a two second lead by the end of that first lap.

MS:
Yeah, I guess I maybe handled it better than Rubens was able to handle it and the rest were stuck behind Rubens, who seemed to lose significant time in that phase of the race, so Ross (Brawn) said. I don't know. I gave it all the speed I thought I could, but it was very tricky, very close.

Q:
What was the thinking behind that really short opening stint, just nine laps?

MS:
The thinking of the strategy? Good qualifying and to be in a good position. When did you stop (to Montoya)?

JPM:
13

Q:
It was almost as though there might have been a different strategy there?

MS:
Well, it's four laps, not that much difference.

Q:
Strategy was pretty clear-cut, wasn't it? No problems with that?

MS:
No, it was very straightforward, the strategy we had from where we started the race.

Q:
And you were on different tyres to Rubens - any problems with them at all?

MS:
They worked perfectly well, but there was not much in it, honestly, within the tyres.

Q:
Juan Pablo, what about the start for you, behind Webber?

JPM:
Yeah, it was a shame because the reaction in the car, compared to the last race, was a big difference. It moved off the line very quickly and I had a very good start but straight away I had to swerve and that kills the acceleration. But apart from that it was good, no problems.

Q:
You mentioned Rubens but you also had traffic at other times?

JPM:
Yeah, there were quite a few times. I had Massa as well. It's a bit of a shame - the "blue Ferrari". (Laughs)

Q:
How did you feel about the race overall, because, let's face it, you were pretty competitive?

JPM:
It's good. It was a lot more competitive than I had last time around and I think, if I hadn't had Rubens in the last stint, I think we could have been quite a bit closer because at the end I was really cruising and I was under 36s - no problem - so it is a bit of a shame but there will be another time. I'm happy to go home from here with eight points - good for the team, good for myself.

Q:
There was extraordinary reliability in the whole field. But Ralf stopped out on the circuit...did you have any problems?

JPM:
I don't know what happened to Ralf. My car was fine. At the end we backed off revs, we backed off everything when Rubens got in the way.

Q:
Jenson, that was an extraordinary difference to Melbourne because you were right up there all the time but there you lost places and here you gained them. What has turned it around?

JB:
Melbourne was the first race on the Michelin tyres, obviously, so we got a lot of information in that and we realised what we were lacking in after the race and I think we have really changed it around, which is great.

Q:
In fact, earlier on in the weekend you weren't very happy with the tyres so you are obviously still learning a great deal.

JB:
We just found it difficult to find a balance. If we had a bit too much understeer it would lose us a lot of lap time where as I didn't want an oversteery car going into the race so it was a little bit difficult finding a balance but we were able to, which was good, and thanks to all the guys, they did a great job.

Q:
The strategy seemed to work well. Did anything not work well?

JB:
The start was okay but as I went around Webber, Jarno was on my left side and we touched wheels, which was actually quite hard, and I thought there would be something wrong with the car but it seemed to be working okay, which obviously I was very happy with, and then we had a good little race together, myself and Jarno. It was an enjoyable race, not just great to finish third I enjoyed the whole race.

Q:
Takuma raced well as well, so is this really the arrival of BAR?

JB:
I think we have done a great job over the winter, we really have made a good step forward and that is everyone in the team. Everyone is really positive, which is great. There is not one person in the team that is negative and we are just making little steps forward every race, getting used to the tyres and we are very happy.

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