Thursday press conference - Chinese GP - Pt. 1.

Drivers: Fernando Alonso (McLaren-Mercedes), Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari), Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso), Mark Webber (Red Bull).

Press conference.

Q:
Mark, Sebastian and Fernando, would you just talk a little bit about the problems following behind the guy who is actually controlling the field when it's under the safety car?

Mark Webber:
It's pretty easy when the safety car lights are on because a) you can see everything, if you're the next guy behind the silver Mercedes and you just have to try to keep a sensible rhythm behind it and obviously in the first safety car (period) and clearly in the second safety car (period) there was not a sensible rhythm. I'm all up for not a great rhythm when the lights are off, because we're preparing for a re-start when the lights are off and there were a few times when I believe Jenson was being backed up by Nick. I think sometimes Jenson passed Nick nearly and I passed Jenson sometimes because the pace was yo-yoing around massively. We know what pace the safety car can do and I accept a little bit that maybe you get a bit bored in that situation because we did a lot of laps and sometimes you get ready to go. It definitely contributed to Sebastian hitting me up the back that we were confused at what the other car was doing because he was doing what he wasn't doing what you are supposed to do (behind the safety car). Clearly.

Q:
And is that something you will bring up say, in the drivers' meeting?

MW:
Yeah. We'll talk about it, waste a bit of oxygen and move on.

Sebastian Vettel:
I think, as Mark said, it's never easy when the rhythm is just not there. The safety car driver is pushing as hard as he can and for us, that is not the highest speed. Obviously the very first part of the race was done behind the safety car; we had a couple of laps and it was always quite close sometimes, and I remember I sometimes had to pass Mark and Mark was beside Jenson and so on, so it always got quite tight and in the second safety car (period) I was in third position, I only had two cars to observe, so the job was a bit easier, you might say, and I can only repeat what I said after the race: just exiting turn 13, all of a sudden I saw... as a human being you react to movement, I would say, and all of a sudden I saw Lewis pulling far to the right and slowing down a lot. I was wondering what happened to him, I already thought he's retiring, there's no more power. That's what it looked like for me because he was going so slowly, and yeah, by the time I looked back in front of me I was already in Mark's rear, so for sure, I apologise again. Obviously I did not plan to destroy both of our races in the end.

Fernando Alonso:
Nothing to add. I think I agree with the two versions.

Q:
But do you feel there wasn't a natural rhythm also, that it wasn't being done correctly?

FA:
It's difficult to know what the car in front of you needs to do but for sure, I didn't see the race on TV but hearing the comments of them, they seem to overtake the car in front a couple of times and some unnecessary manoeuvres, to overtake and to avoid cars in front of you. I also overtook Lewis two or three times, so it seems that we all agree.

Q:
Sebastian, you obviously had a great race up until that moment, what really made the difference?

SV:
I don't know. Saturday morning we didn't have any free practice because visibility was too bad for the helicopter and it was the first time, the very first time for me with the car in the rain, so I didn't really know what to expect and going into Q1, it was already going really, really - pretty well. We made it quite safely into Q2 and finally P10 brought us into Q3 and for the team it was the first time, so it was a good weekend. Then the race as well. After the restart I was able to get third position straight away and we had a good race pace and I think the most positive thing out of the weekend was that we were there in third position, not because we were lucky because all the others retired and so on. The thing was that we had the speed, we were fast enough and so up to that point, behind the safety car, everything was OK and then yeah, of course it was a big disappointment to finish the race like that.

Q:
Robert, you had an interesting fight with Felipe at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix.

Robert Kubica:
Well, I had Felipe behind me for the last stint. Unfortunately Sato came in and he was, I think, lapped three times already. Two laps to go and he didn't see me and as I was behind him, I lost a lot of time there. Felipe came close. I had a lot of aquaplaning and he overtook me in corner six. I overtook him on the exit of it and then in corner ten he went a bit wide, we touched two times there and then I was forced to cut the track on the grass. I came back, he cut the track on the grass. He overtook me and so on until the last corner. It was pretty tough, it was on the limit of reasonable safety because I think three or four times we could end up (inaudible). I think Felipe was a bit upset after the race. I was also a bit upset by my race, so we just put all what we had into these five corners.

Q:
This is your first full season, what are your feelings about your whole year?

RK:
Pretty disappointed. We have good performance in our car but it looks like we struggled this season to extract 100 percent of it and on many occasions I think my performance was under the performance of the car and of the whole package.

Q:
Mark, the team is hoping to overtake Williams in the Constructors' Championship; what chances do you reckon? You've had three finishes in the races that have been held here.

MW:
Yeah, reasonable. I think five points is not easy for teams like us to get in dry conditions. We'll see. If Nico is back up there - obviously he had a penalty at the last race - but two races to go, five points. If we finish equal on points we still get them, so there's absolutely no question about it, we're trying to get them.

Q:
Kimi, third and second places here over the last couple of years, what are your feelings about this track?

Kimi Raikkonen:
It's quite OK usually. I quite enjoy it. We will see how it goes this year but it doesn't really change what has happened in previous years here.

Q:
And the championship, your feelings about that?

KR:
For sure it's not a good position where we are, but we still try to win races and see what happens. It's not really up to us any more, even if we win both races it's probably not going to happen for us but it's the only thing we can do, try to win and see where we end up.

Q:
What are your feelings about the possibility of rain on Sunday - again?

KR:
It's the same for all the teams and drivers, so I don't mind really. I think it was quite an exciting race last time in the rain, so for sure it makes it a bit livelier if it's raining.

Q:
Fernando, interesting in the team's preview, you called your second place here frustrating but obviously you also had a win here as well, so what are your feelings about this circuit?

FA:
It was not frustrating last year, first of all. My feelings are a little bit up and down because now, at the moment, in the championship it's good to come here. I like this circuit and I won once and I finished second last year, so I always have great memories from this track and good times. But being 12 points behind in the championship with two races to go is not the perfect position, so as Kimi said, I think we still have a little chance in the championship but it's not up to us any more, we need some other combination of results, so we just need to concentrate on winning the race and in Brazil as well: try to do the best two races we can and have fun driving here.

Q:
Is that what your chequered wristband is, so you see the chequered flag first?

FA:
Maybe. Like this I finish first in my own world, my own race.

Q:
Are you going to wear it for the weekend then?

FA:
Not in the car.

Q:
There has been a lot of talk since the Japanese Grand Prix about your future and that Flavio Briatore has made you an offer. It's a team with which you have had a lot of success in the past. Is it something you're considering?

FA:
It's not the time, it's not the time to speak about next year. I try to win these two races, and when the championship finishes we will see.