French GP - Sunday press conference - Pt.2.

Questions from the floor

Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association) Felipe, it was mentioned earlier that you are the first Brazilian to lead the world championship since Ayrton, we believe since Monaco in '93. Does that mean anything to you, is that significant?

Felipe Massa:
As I said, it's nice but my dream is not just to lead the championship, my dream is to win the championship and I'm going to do the best I can to try to achieve that. That's my dream and hopefully one day we can celebrate that, but for sure, it's a nice feeling.

Q: (Tomas Richtr - TV Nova) Jarno, your fight for the last podium place was very nice with Heikki and Robert Kubica. What was the reason behind your success, because even Timo Glock fell out of the top ten?

Jarno Trulli:
I think the results come from a perfect weekend from everybody - the team, from my driving, from everyone in the team, our suppliers, our supporters as well, because as I say, today you need to get everything completely right in order to get on the podium, especially for us. I think we've done a great job. What can I say more than that?

I drove very well. I fought very hard and this is what I'm supposed to do. I'm born to fight and I enjoy fighting. Sometimes I get it wrong; we can get it wrong, because it did happen here for a few years. I've been criticised, but I just learned from my mistakes and carried on pushing again.

Q: (Juha P??talo - Financial Times Germany) Kimi, what did you feel in the car at the moment when the exhaust broke and what did the team tell you? Did you think the race would be over already?

Kimi Raikkonen:
Basically I just lost power. Then I told them that I had lost power and basically then I told them what was wrong because I saw in the mirror that the exhaust pipe was hanging on one of the cables at the back of the car. Usually when that happens it doesn't take too long before something else goes wrong but luckily the car was strong enough, the engine was strong enough. Even with a big problem like that we could still do pretty good lap times and finish second.

Q: (Dan Knutson - National Speed Sport News) Jarno, tell us about that last battle you had with Heikki when you got alongside each other. I think you even banged wheels, just run us through that part...

JT:
I think we were very close but we didn't bang at all. I did my job, I kept the inside line as I was supposed to do and obviously I was quite slow on the straight - it was so obvious - but all I had to do was to fight. I could see the podium there but I didn't want to lose the position.

Everybody knows me - I'm hard to pass, I fight until the end. Sometimes I can also get it wrong, but this time I got it right and I did a perfect job. Nevertheless, it's not only my driving; it's also down to the team who have done a good job with the pit-stop, perfect pit-stops, perfect strategy, all the weekend was perfect.

Obviously, the fact that we had a very good qualifying position and then a good start gave us the chance to fight those ahead. It's quite clear that we don't yet have the pace to fight Ferrari and to fight McLaren and BMW, but obviously today we could take our chances and we did it.

Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto Moto und Sport) Kimi, when the problem started, you had lap times of high 1m19s and 1m20s and then you dropped down later on to 1m18s. What did you change in your driving style to drive that fast with your problem?

KR:
Basically the problem kept changing. Sometimes it was a little bit worse, sometimes a bit better. It really depended on how the engine behaved. Luckily enough, after a few laps it started to work a little bit better and then in the end it got really bad again and it almost stopped, but we made it to the finish and that was the main thing.

Q: (Alexandre Avril - Radio NRJ Nevers) Felipe, it's probably the last grand prix at Magny-Cours. You won the race; do you have a special feeling?

FM:
It's special, for sure. Magny-Cours was a nice traditional race. For sure, if you see the town it's not very exciting but I think the track is alright - the track is better than many tracks we race on. I don't have any problems coming here to race. I like the track which is the most important thing for the driver. The hotel is nearby, so that's not a problem.

It's nice to win, to be the last winner of the French Grand Prix. Maybe we're going to have a French Grand Prix again. I don't know if it will be here or somewhere else, but it's nice to be part of this story. Also, my manager is French, so maybe he will be even happier than me because it's special for him, because we worked together and it's important for him to win his home grand prix.

Q: (Fr?d?ric Ferret - L'Equipe) Jarno, is this podium more important than the first one you got for the team in 2005?

JT:
I think so, because in 2005 we had a very competitive car, especially at the beginning of the season and also it was easier to fight for the podium. This one came from an extremely good weekend from every single person, from the engineers, from the suppliers, from myself, from the mechanics at the pit-stop.

We know that today we cannot realistically fight for the podium, but after yesterday's qualifying, inside my mind, I had the feeling that I had a little chance and I had to play it. With the experience I had, and with the hard head that I have, I just went for it.

I really wanted to give the best and I want to show that people are wrong when they say that I'm not so strong in the race. I've been doing so many good races in the past, but unfortunately we don't have the pace in the car. Sometimes I've been very unlucky, but nevertheless I'm focused in front of me to achieve the target I wanted.

I believe now I'm driving very well with a lot of experience, so I can get things together much easier and much better and I think the team today has a very good atmosphere. Timo is extremely quick and is pushing me harder and harder. He's closer to me every race. We have a very good relationship and we especially have extremely similar comments which make the team improve, so in general, this result is a team result, coming from every single person, even from the factory.

Q: (Marco Evangelisti - Corriere dello Sport) Jarno, what were you shouting at the end during your parade lap, and was that gesture like Luca Toni? Was it good wishes for today?

JT:
Well, first of all I called for a tricolore flag, the Italian flag, because I kept it for a long, long time, since 2005, in my bag and unfortunately I couldn't get it out. Today was the time to get it out and it was a perfect day because we are all Italian here, I think, because Ferrari and I are Italian and so I wanted to celebrate.

Unfortunately we didn't have enough time to get it, and then I made a couple of gestures. The first one I was doing in the car was an old gesture that Fernando and I did a few years ago when we were at Renault together and similar to the one that Luca Toni makes. I hope that today's result, all from Italy, will help the Italian football team to get into the semi-final.

Q: (Asen Stoyanov - Monitor) A question for everybody: what do you think about the idea of having a French Grand Prix on the streets of Paris, in 2010 maybe?

FM:
The hotels will be much better, that's for sure! The track I'm not sure. I think they need to do a great job on the track because this is a nice track. To build a nice track in Paris is not so easy. We need to wait and see if it's going to be the case or not.

KR:
There is always a lot of speculation where the races are going to be in a few years, but there's no point in really talking about it before we get the green light and it's going to happen. It's just wasting time really.

JT:
As Kimi said, there's been a lot of speculation and it's not down to us to judge. Personally I like coming to France; I have a lot of supporters and I get on very well with French people. I like this track, but as a driver I will drive wherever Formula 1 will go.

Q: (Thierry Wilmotte - Le Soir) Jarno, when you were battling with Heikki, did you remember the podium you lost in the last corner a few years ago; were you thinking about that?

JT:
Yes, it was my revenge. It was my revenge because I was probably even slower but as I say, I'm a big fighter and I'm hard-headed and I didn't want to give up. I would have been really disappointed.

Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association) To Kimi and Felipe: Lewis has failed to score in the last two races now. Do you still see him as a main rival for the title, or do you feel that as a team you're too strong or you will be too strong over the second half of the season for him and McLaren?

FM:
Well, I didn't score in the first two races and I'm leading. Kimi didn't score in the last two races as well and he's completely fighting for the championship, so we cannot take anybody away from the fight at the moment. It's only the middle of the championship and it's a long way to the last race.