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

Drivers: Fernando Alonso (Renault), Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren-Mercedes), Ralf Schumacher (Toyota).

TV UNILATERALS

Q:
Fernando, I guess Giancarlo's problem before the start opened up the first corner for you...

Fernando ALONSO:
In a way, yes... It was a little bit difficult with Jenson because he did a good start, so I guess if Giancarlo had been there on the inside it would have been a little bit more difficult. I don't know what happened to him exactly. We will have to see and check that it doesn't happen any more, to him or even to me. Apart from this, I think the race was a little bit crazy. I didn't understand some moments of the race, when I was maybe 20 seconds ahead and the gap disappeared after three or four safety cars in ten laps. But I think the car was perfect, there wasn't any risk of losing victory at any time so I was quite confident.

Q:
There seemed to be a lot of problems for others getting
temperature into the tyres, but at every re-start, you got a fantastic lead.

FA:
Yes, it seems that our car was warming the tyres better ready for the first lap. It happened on the first lap, when Jenson was leading the race, I overtook him quite easily on the straight on the restart and then in the other ones, I was pulling away in the first two laps like six seconds, but that was enough to maintain the gap and so it was a little advantage for me today.

Q:
Just talking about Jenson - it was very close with him on the opening lap of the race.

FA:
Very close, especially at the start. I locked up the tyres and nearly hit him in the first corner. Then we fought really closely for turn three, but as always when I fight with Jenson I had no problems at all. We have a lot of respect for each other and we didn't have any problem. I think after that he dropped back and disappeared from the leading places and it was a little bit easier for me.

Q:
Then you had late race pressure from Kimi...

FA:
Yes, as I said before, I was about 20 seconds ahead and then that was gone because of the safety car. After the re-start, I also had quite a good car, no problems at all with the balance, so it was not too difficult to pull away today.

Q:
Kimi, an interesting and spectacular race for you, perhaps talk us through it... You obviously had a problem with your nose section at one point, and perhaps a vibration too.

Kimi RAIKKONEN:
Yeah, at one of the restarts, I overtook Jenson and I locked up the inside wheel at turn one. I still managed to stay ahead of him through corners one and three, but fortunately, even with the vibration and a front tyre the car was still quite quick and I was able to keep up with Fernando, but then suddenly I think we lost part of the endplate because of the vibration. I was quite slow at that point, but luckily during the safety car period we had enough time to change the nose. After that, I think the speed was there, in the car, to really fight for victory, but my little mistake cost quite a lot in the end and also there were some lapped people always between me and Fernando, but the car is quick. If we get a proper race without any problems I think we should be able to fight for wins and then we will see what happens.

Q:
The car must have been really good at the end; but I believe you were on slightly different tyres to Renault. Do you think that was a factor?

KR:
Yes, I think we have different tyres, but I think they were good for us. But with all the problems with the car, with the nose really, I was not able to push. The car was quick all the time but of course he slowed down in the end, so it wasn't really realistic but you can see that the speed is there so that's positive. As long as we get a good race without any problems we should be OK.

Q:
Ralf, with a stop-go and where you came from in Bahrain and Malaysia, this almost feels like a win for you...

Ralf SCHUMACHER:
Oh yes, yeah. You can imagine, we are all very happy with what we achieved today. As you said, the drive-through was because of my mistake because I didn't hit the limiter button. But I was lucky that due to the safety car I think we achieved a lot more than we ever thought before this weekend.

Q:
The safety car allowed you to regain some time after that stop-go and you also picked up some places in the final safety car period just before the yellows came out...

RS:
I thought we only had the (tyre) warm-up problems this weekend, but it looked like some Michelin runners had the same problem. Jenson struggled and Nick as well. So Nick went off and I was able to get by and that obviously gave me another position. With all the backmarkers in between us, it was a bit of a fight really, but yeah, we went through and finished third. It was great.

Q:
Looked like you had a very spectacular phase on those opening laps...

RS:
Similar thing you know: we were all sliding so I just saw a lot of locking wheels and stuff like that. It was very interesting, very difficult for me today because the car grip was never really there to fight the whole race, to keep it there but it worked out.

Q:
Where do you think Toyota are? Do you think you are back to where you were in 2005?

RS:
I think we had a good result today, but we were far away from the top teams, I guess. I have seen the lap times and we have to work, but I have no doubt at all that our crew is able to do that. We're strong people and they are really pushing hard so I'm looking forward to the next few races.

Q:
Fernando, a nice early lead to the World Championship, Renault very strong too. It's all looking great...

FA:
Yeah, I won the first one and this third one. Fisi did the previous race and I was second so 28 points out of 30 is a dream come true again, this start of the season, so let's hope it finishes like last year.