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

Drivers: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) and Takuma Sato (BAR-Honda).

TV Unilaterals.

Q:
Michael, that was a dramatic race, a dramatic first corner, obviously the dramatic accident with your brother. What are your thoughts at the moment?

Michael Schumacher:
The biggest concern I had was seeing Ralf sitting for so long in the car as soon as I saw and I was aware that Montoya was in position whatever and there was a safety car and so on and I saw a (Williams) BMW parked there. The worst thing was seeing him for so long there. They kept telling me that they were informed that things weren't too bad, everything was looking alright, but still, I mean, I have heard this many times in the past and it turned out differently but as far as my information is concerned Ralf is well and that is all that matters.

Q:
Indeed. You took the lead at the first restart. Can you talk about that and also how you managed to maintain the lead after the safety car after you made your pit stop?

MS:
Well, taking the lead after the safety car was purely that here the nature of the circuit is that the safety car switches off its light in the last sector and then you don't have much time in sort of preparing yourself to get your set-up right. Except having a long straight and having a car right behind and slipstreaming like I was able to do with Rubens allowed me to pass. I don't know exactly what happened during the safety car phase, obviously, I slowed down enough to get in the slipstream right for the situation but I wasn't aware of what was going on behind me at the time.

Q:
Well, with the pit stop behind you the two BAR-Hondas had no pit stops and that was a very impressive performance. Rubens, how was that from your point of view? Talk about that pit-stop situation.

Rubens Barrichello:
Well, yeah, it was a bit confusing because at that time I was right behind Michael and I was focussed just to get past because unfortunately on the re-start I had a lot of wheel spin and I am sure that allowed Michael to just take the slipstream and get past. I even got a difficult turn 13 on the banking, it was difficult to keep flat-out, to be honest with you, because the car was bottoming with the pressures so low so I didn't have any chance to actually close the door or anything like that. Then we were running very close by and we had the information of the safety car and they told me 'come in, come in', so I was slowing down enough when I came in actually it worked okay because Michael was just leaving so I didn't lose much time. Of course, it is a pit stop and I lost all those positions so I lost the race pretty much there.

Q:
But you recovered well and it was a good race at the end there.

RB:
Yeah, it is very unfortunate in a way. It is good to have a one-two again and we must be part of our team and everything but I am just disappointed because really, more than Canada, more than ever, I thought I had the win in my hands. I had a quick car and I was driving well and I was pushing like hell in all those laps. Unfortunately there was something on the racing track, I don't know what, a piece of white stuff, when I got out of turn four that affected my lap. I lost more than a second and a half at that stage and it was two laps to come to the pits and I didn't know whether the car was behaving or not because it was a big shunt on the wheel. That is probably the second that Michael won back.

Q:
Takuma, a podium for Lucky Strike BAR-Honda. It was a great drive and an interesting first corner. Fernando Alonso was very aggressive there as well.

Takuma Sato:
Yes, this is a really great result for the team, not from a personal point of view but also for the team. The mechanics are working so hard and also the Honda engineers in Japan, everyone working to solve the problem that we had. And I am so happy for the team to bring some result here. Obviously in turn one I was really surprised when the Renault came out to the right side and I lost the position and the restart was just okay but with the Ralf situation it was obviously very, very concerning, him sitting for a long time. Under the new regulations, you cannot push hard under the safety car so the team came on the radio and said 'keep on the fuel and slow it down'. When I came onto the front straight there was so much debris and you had to avoid all the debris and obviously Ralf was in the middle of the track so I had to nearly stop and that is why I let Michael join as the leader under the safety car situation, so we will have to look into that one. Nevertheless, third place for me is just fantastic.

Q:
And how was the car in the remainder of the race?

TS:
The car was beautiful, to be honest. It was working so well, having had a bit of luck with the pace in Canada we struggled under the consistency for the long runs. But today the car was so consistent and I was able to push so hard to battle and getting back my position. It was so close at the end it was really great.

Q:
Michael it was a confusing race, can we just have your closing thoughts on how it went for you in terms of your strategy, tyre wear and performance of the car relative to the opposition.

MS:
Obviously, I don't really have that picture relative to the opposition - I was at that stage looking after Rubens. There was obviously the option before the last pit stop to go for another pit stop or to call it the last pit stop and it was a bit difficult because I didn't really have a very good second stint, my tyres were completely gone at that stage and I couldn't really push very hard. Then putting in a lot of fuel, not knowing how much I could push, knowing Rubens was going fast as he was, it was very difficult just to manage the situation. And luckily there was this board (debris) which put it into my favour and it was a very close fight.

Press conference.

Q:
Michael, how important was that pit stop at the second safety car period and how important was the changed strategy because of that?

MS:
It is a good question. I mean, I really need to go through the race because we were then obviously staggered in different conditions and I don't know. Obviously, in the end we were on the same strategy. I hear Rubens had a long stint first and a shorter one last and I had the long stint last and the shorter one first, so I guess in the end it evens out, but I don't know.

Q:
You were always going for a two-stop strategy were you?

MS:
I think we had a flexibility, honestly.

Q:
Presumably, coming in at that moment, the calling of that pit-stop was crucial?

MS:
Yeah, in a way it was. I didn't know the reason we had a safety car, I just heard a car spun in turn one at the last corner, and knowing now what was happening, obviously it was crucial because probably it was quicker through the pits with the pit stop than it was going through the accident itself. And Takuma just said that he almost had to stop there for the reason of Ralf having an accident.

Q:
And you were pushed hard by the BARs, as well, after the safety car.

MS:
Yep, obviously they were pretty light at that stage and we were pretty heavy and it was natural they were going to push.

Q:
The news the team were able to give you about Ralf, did that sort of relax you?

MS:
Yeah, it helped big time because I was shocked when I saw it was Ralf. I knew at some stage that it was, Montoya was behind in whatever position, and I didn't know about Ralf having an accident, even during the whole lap around and coming to the accident itself I saw a (Williams) BMW and it was clear to me it was Ralf and I saw the way the car hit the barriers so I was very concerned.

Q:
There wasn't actually a tyre barrier there where he hit the wall.

MS:
I don't think it helps to have a tyre barrier there. I don't think we need to discuss whether anything needs to be different, honestly. I think it is better to have a wall there just to keep it sliding like they do at Indycar. Tyres would probably have a worse effect, in a way. Obviously I just got the information that Ralf is okay and that is all that matters.

Q:
Rubens, tell us about the start. How did that go?

RB:
The actual start was very good, I had a brilliant start and at the time we went under the safety car I had probably a second or so, so I tell you my car has been working fantastically well this afternoon. The only thing that I was sorry about - but it happened anyway so it doesn't matter - is that we didn't have any information about the safety car and all of a sudden the lights went away and the pressures on the tyres dropped too much. It could happen both ways because you could argue saying that Michael prepared his tyres very well but it would have happened both ways because whenever we had the pressures down I had a lot of drag coming onto the straight. When I went into turn 13 I was just having an oversteering car pitching very much and obviously Michael had a clear run and caught my slipstream. But I think it is fair to say it would have happened both ways so I had no chance at that time but a big chance after that. I tried everything I could. I really had a car to win the race today so that is why I was a little bit sorry even though it is a great result.

Q:
If you hadn't been trapped behind Raikkonen for about six laps, would that have made a difference?

RB:
Yeah, probably. And also the fact that - I was just saying in the press conference - that Michael was just telling me that probably Fisichella hit some board and brought it onto the track because it was right in the middle of the exit, which is a blind exit, you don't see it. Because I was going flat-out I was using the whole track and as soon as I came I felt a bang and I backed off. I thought that's it, I had lost my suspension, because it was a big hit and the car turned to the left. It took me half a lap to see if the car was okay but then I did a 12.5s, and it was the same that he was doing. With the 10.4s and 10.5s I was doing I would have managed to be in front.

Q:
And then you really had a go at Michael.

RB:
I did at one stage because I had new tyres and he was already using the tyres. There was no way to pass. Unfortunately he closed the door fairly and there was no point. So, again, just Canada and the US I scored 16 points, happily, but both I could have won, so there is no ifs, I go out of here happy but wanting to win sooner than ever.

Q:
Was that a bit of a touch and go moment, Michael, when Rubens had a go at you after the second pit stop?

MS:
No, it was expected, obviously. I was in the phase of having my trouble with the tyres and he was on fresh tyres so for one lap I expected him to have a go, but it wasn't that close the way worked out.

Q:
When did you have trouble with the tyres then, was it that stint?

MS:
I think every time we put on new tyres after a couple of laps, when the tyres are pretty new it moves a little bit and you can't really push that hard because we were marginal on blisters. You have to give the tyres a bit of time to wear down and then you are able to push, and that was the phase, obviously. In the later part, before the last pitstop, when he was going flat out and putting in good lap times and I was in a struggle. And when he came out with new tyres, for one lap you can do it, as well for two and then we get into this phase where Rubens was dropping back.

Q:
Takuma-san, what does this podium mean to you?

TS:
It means a lot to me, and not only for me but also the team, the staff are really working hard and obviously the Honda engineers who were looking into what was the problem in the last two races and I am very pleased sitting here, coming back after yesterday's press conference, to be in the same position. It was really a first step but it is a very important result for us today.

Q:
You had quite a moment with Olivier Panis on the back straight. Tell us about that.

TS:
Before that, there was drama through the race. Right at the beginning, at the start, and obviously Alonso had a really good start and passed me into turn one. But sooner or later he had a puncture in front of me, probably hit some debris or whatever after the first incident into turn one. That is why, when the second safety car came in, and Ralf was obviously sitting in the middle of the track and there was so much debris and I was the first person to come through and there was just debris everywhere so I really had to try to avoid everything and had to stop the speed and that is why I didn't take advantage of having a lot of fuel on board as a two-stop strategy. But after that I had to fight back my position and obviously the back straight with Olivier, I thought it was just okay but he seemed to be fractionally coming in to me. I was a little bit surprised at that, but I had a good battle with David Coulthard and Olivier and in the end we had a result we wanted and that was the important thing.

Q:
Did you touch with Olivier?

TS:
No, we never touched. We never touched a car today.

Q:
And what about with Jarno, down at the first corner here?

TS:
It was a bit of a drama again. Into the last corner I saw the oil flag was waving and Jarno was a little bit hesitant on the throttle onto the banking and I was really coming in on the slipstream. And still there was oil flags everywhere but I didn't see the yellow flags. When I was diving to him, just in the middle of the straight, I saw the yellow flags just into turn one but I was sure it was before the yellow flag that this move was completely done. The team came on and said 'yellow flag, yellow flag' and there was just so many flags over there that I was a bit confused at first. Firstly I jumped off the throttle and then I came back into neutral into the braking and at the same time one of the McLaren cars came in and I had to brake and I couldn't turn in because there was a McLaren and I lost it in the middle of the corner and obviously Jarno was on the outside and we both went off on the grass. But we didn't touch and it just happens in racing I think.

Q:
Then the team was a bit worried the car was damaged and something flew off later on.

TS:
Um, did we? I don't know. Obviously the car was working pretty well after that. The team radioed me and asked how's the balance, how's the tyres?' and I just radioed back and I was perfectly happy with the car and the balance and the car was working very good. I am very impressed with the work of the Michelin tyres. Today we made a significant step for the consistency through the race. We never had this much consistency as we have here so I am very happy.