Thursday press conference - US GP - Pt. 1.

Drivers: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes), Heikki Kovalainen (Renault), Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), Takuma Sato (Super Aguri), Scott Speed (Toro Rosso), Jarno Trulli (Toyota)

Press conference:

Q:
Takuma, your feelings after your excellent race in Canada.

Takuma Sato:
Yes, first of all, it's great that nobody was hurt in the last race, demonstrating that Formula One's safety level is so high after a lot of investigation a few years ago. That was the very first point that I had to make, and a big thanks to the teams. Personally, our team feeling is absolutely fantastic, that was an outstanding result for our team in the last one and half years. Obviously, it was a difficult race, so many things happened and such an eventful race and given the choice, I think everybody has got a chance, and everybody had slight difficulty, but at the end of the day, we made the right call. It was so exciting to race on the last few laps. I got my position back which was really exciting, I am very very happy with that.

Q:
Round the outside going into the final chicane, quite an overtaking manoeuvre.

TS:
Montreal is difficult but nothing is impossible. I think overtaking after a long straight, heavy braking is possible but obviously you need to get a good exit out of the corner before. Not only that, you need a good car under braking and stability. Obviously, when I was battling with Fernando, his car had very good speed down the straight and at one stage he pulled away, even though I got a big tow, and that was quite surprising to see. But at the end of the straight I had the opportunity to go side by side, braking late and I was confident. I was totally controlled and comfortable because the one thing in the last race that affected everybody was the marbles, because the situation with tyres or strategy was unusual, so trying not to make any error was extremely important, so we had to figure out how to do it but I'm very pleased that we handled it very well.

Q:
What about here: you've been third on the grid, you've finished third, you've been on the podium; what about this race?

TS:
Yes, personally I have great memories of Indianapolis. It's such a nice feeling, there's such a great momentum from last week and two consecutive races are always logistically difficult but from a driver's point of view, it's nice to have a race again straight away. I think it's going to be incredibly difficult to repeat what happened in Canada but I'm confident that our team prepares the best we can and hopefully we will have a strong weekend.

Q:
Jarno, obviously a shocking race for you in many ways last weekend.

Jarno Trulli:
Well, the weekend was a bit dramatic at one stage, but fortunately we could overcome the problem with the front suspension and we shouldn't have any problems in the future. The part has been redesigned and we'll get it soon. But the race was also quite a chaotic and dramatic, because there were so many accidents, because of the safety car, because of the new rules, so many things happened, and obviously it was a difficult race. I think the people who won the race really deserved it but many others got lucky or not, losing or gaining position on the track, and probably I was the one who lost position and who lost a result. Unfortunately, after the accident with Robert I had to pit because I had a flat tyre and from then on I was just lying at the back of the field and I couldn't do much with the safety car coming out every time. It was very difficult.

Q:
How affected were you by that accident? How much were you thinking about that accident during the race?

JT:
My race was basically spoiled there because I had to pit for an extra tyre change, so obviously I dropped down the field and there was very little I could do at that stage, but then on top of that, when you're involved in an accident, you are always concerned, especially when you see someone else's car completely destroyed, so it was very difficult. No one had any information about Robert until the end of the race, so I was a little bit concerned. I guess everyone was concerned.

Q:
What about this race? You've been on pole position here, four times you've finished fourth, twice from 20th or lower. What are the chances here?

JT:
Well, if you look at the statistics, Canada has never brought me luck, whereas here I've always had very good races. I just hope I can bounce back, because it's now three races that I haven't scored points because of bad luck, and I just want to make sure that I have a troublefree weekend and try to do my best, and try to get the best out of the car.

Q:
Heikki, obviously a good result last weekend. How much of a relief was it to have that result?

Heikki Kovalainen:
Honestly, not so much. I've always felt confident, even after a lot of mistakes and after bad races, I haven't lost my confidence and I've always felt the team has been 100 percent behind me, so in that way it wasn't a big relief. It was good to score points, and to get five points is very important for myself, for the team and to get the championship going, now our car is getting better. So I think that's more important, but other than that, it doesn't really change my life and our team's life much at all.

Q:
Tell us about improvements in the car. Is it a lot better now?

HK:
Yes, I think so. Already in Monaco the car was performing a lot better there and at the end of the race, my pace - even though I was driving at the back of the queue - was pretty good and Fisi had a strong result there. And throughout the weekend in Canada the car felt pretty good but obviously a couple of mistakes, one on Friday and one on Saturday, completely compromised my race, especially qualifying. We have to make sure that we get the full potential out of our car. I think we should be able to fight for top ten positions now on a consistent basis. When we get there, then the races become a lot easier, then we should also score points more consistently.

Q:
You've been quoted as saying you learned a change of attitude and approach to a race weekend from last weekend's experience.

HK:
I don't know if I said that or not but obviously mistakes in free practice cost me a lot of track time and when I went into qualifying, I really didn't have 100 percent confidence in how much I could attack. It was actually the first time that I'd used the super soft tyre in qualifying, because of all the problems in practice. And when you go in to qualifying with that kind of situation, it's always going to be very difficult when everybody else is on the top of their game and you are still finding your way around the track and with the car and with the tyres and everything. So I think the main lesson from that weekend is that we've got to do the free practice properly, we've got to make sure that we set up the car 100 percent ready for qualifying and then I think everything will be back to normal.

Q:
Robert, any after effects since the accident?

Robert Kubica:
Not really. I had a bit of pain in my ankle on the first day but now it's 100 percent OK, no headache, nothing. Nearly like brand new! I was really lucky and very positive for myself, very important to come back as soon as possible. Of course, we have to wait for the decision of the FIA doctors and of Indy, here at the Grand Prix, to give me the OK, but I feel like nothing has happened.

Q:
What is the procedure now, when are you going to have a medical examination?

RK:
Well, the doctors will probably check me. I already have reports from the Montreal doctor, Doctor Denis, who said that everything looks OK. They were quite surprised that after everything that had happened, nothing happened to me. We have to wait, we have to see. I feel 100 percent good, but you always have to wait for the decision and then probably, hopefully I will be back in the car, with a better performance than in Canada.

Q:
Have you seen the accident on TV?

RK:
Well, yes. I also saw it live when I was there! (Laughter) But Scott also had a good position to see it. I saw that on some pictures. But I saw it because as Jarno came to the hospital, it was also important to understand what happened, and why suddenly I had no control of the car. Apparently it was the front wing - when we touched - which went under the car and lifted my car up and I couldn't steer any more, which is why I went off.

Q:
So obviously you're looking forward to driving this weekend.

RK:
I really feel as if nothing has happened. I want to be back in the car and I'm looking forward to it. Canada was very unlucky for me, starting from Friday: problems with a fuel leak, and then performance-wise it was not good. I was looking forward very much to Canada because last year I was very competitive there, Nick was competitive, but apparently we faced some problems with the car and it doesn't pay off, so let's hope I'm in good shape, that the car will be in good shape and the doctors will give me the OK to race here and we will be competitive.

Q:
Scott, really, your best performance so far this year appears to be the race before, in fact, Monaco. That must have been a great race for you.

Scott Speed:
Yeah, Monaco was definitely good for us. Since Barcelona we have made big steps forward with our car. We knew it was going to be a long beginning of the season because of all the winter testing we missed but certainly the car is coming together. We're still waiting for at least one more big update that should put us in a position where we can fight for points, I think. But until then the team has done a fantastic job and we've definitely closed the gap.

Q:
Have you been satisfied with your other performances, though, so far this year?

SS:
Yeah, for me I think the beginning of the year has been very good. We've had good races, we've just been, I think, very unlucky. We haven't finished any. I think especially starting from Barcelona, we've been at the right pace or at a pace that was better than we expected. So this weekend I expect to be at a similar pace to where we were in Canada. But once we get back to Europe I think we have another improvement waiting for us.

Q:
Obviously some changes within the team as well in that you're using the design from Adrian Newey and obviously Gerhard Berger has come in and so on, there's quite a few changes there. Those presumably have been positive?

SS:
I think Gerhard has been there from the start, but certainly having a car that's up to date is good for us because we can develop like everyone else throughout the year, unlike last year where we pretty much had what we had at the very beginning and needed to try to make the best as we could towards the end of the year.