Post race press conference - Austrian GP.

Drivers: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), Juan Montoya (Williams)

TV unilaterals

Q:
Rubens, sitting in the middle, how difficult was it to make the decision to move over on the last lap?

Rubens Barrichello:
I think I have had the experience, so it wasn't...I'm not joking, I have been asked to do it, I have said nothing and I think it's a team decision. I've just signed a two-year contract with them and I thought I should respect it.

Q:
But as a racer, you must feel a twinge. You've only won one race previously. Is it very difficult?

RB:
I'm going through a period of a very good time of my life. I'm becoming a better person, a better driver, so there's no point in arguing. I think my determination will bring me a lot more wins, so that's the way I see it, so there's no point arguing. We saw it when Michael gave me the trophy, the trophy I take home today so I'm happy for that.

Q:
On a more positive note, it was once again a very clever strategy by Ferrari. In Brazil, we all thought you would stop twice, you stopped once, and here obviously you were planning to stop twice. Once again good work by Ross Brawn and the team...

RB:
Fantastic and the car is working fantastically well. It's not just the car and the engine, it's also the tyres. The tyres are really good and we could fight the whole race through. It's been a really good race, I need to thank the whole team and my engineers because the car felt fantastic. I was pushing nicely, I wasn't overdriving and the only real point where I took care was after the safety car because the brakes and the tyres were really cold so we had to take care. The rest was really good.

Q:
Michael, first win in Austria completes the set of winning at all the circuits, but it's very obvious you've taken no joy from this victory.

Michael Schumacher:
Yes, very obvious. As Rubens pointed out, it was a team decision. Last year, I was sort of involved in the situation because I felt the championship was much more tight than it was this year. This year, I didn't even think about this, and before the race I was asked and I said 'I don't believe there is going to be a team strategy involved'. And suddenly, they told me that he would move over and, yeah, I'm not very pleased about it either. I think nobody of us is, honestly, but then we have to look what is the team's ambitions - and the team's ambition is to win the championship - and you have to secure this because you never know what is going to happen in the next races.

Therefore, well, I have to thank Rubens because he has done a fantastic race - he has been outstanding all weekend, honestly and this gesture in the way we have done it shows the sort of work we are doing together, the belief that we have in each other and the relationship to some degree, because it's not natural what he has been doing, the way he's doing it and I'm just thankful for him, for the points, but obviously I don' t take a lot of joy from the victory.

Q:
Who actually made this decision?

MS:
At the end of the day, it comes from Ferrari itself and there is obviously the top person at Ferrari is Mr Montezemolo, and it goes down to Mr Todt, and so on. Who is in the end the person, I don't know, but, believe me, the team is investing a lot of money for one sort of target and imagine in the end it wouldn't be enough by the this amount of points, how stupid would we look?

We have always had this philosophy, I think it is very well known to everybody that this is the philosophy, it's within the sport. Some people may like it, some people may not like it. As I said today, I felt a little bit sorry as well and I'm not really in favour of it, but then you never know what happened in the end. I'm sure that the way Rubens drove today, he has a lot of opportunities to secure victories this year and I told him on the podium that I hope that the championship is soon finished so we can go for real racing. I'm sure he's going to win loads of races.

Q:
Juan Pablo, a very eventful race and a very frightening incident at the end of the first safety car. Perhaps you can talk us through it?

Juan Pablo Montoya:
I didn't really see anything. I was turning in, I was right on the inside of Sato and suddenly a Sauber came back was right in front of him, there was a huge pile-up and I thought I was very lucky. That made my race as well, because my strategy was to be on the hard tyres and at the beginning of the race, we didn't have the pace we needed.

Q:
It was noticeable that you actually didn't take any tyres at all at your pit-stops?

JPM:
Yeah, they were.

Q:
That said, the two safety cars probably did help you get past Ralf....

JPM:
Yeah, that's what made the race. Ralf was quite quick out of the pits as well, but I managed to get a few laps in really quick right before the stop and that was enough.

Q:
Rubens, are you now looking forward to Monaco?

RB:
Very much. Since I've started driving the new car and everything has been bright, although obviously I don't have as many points in the championship as I would have liked. But Monaco is a home race for me as well, so I enjoy being there, so I will be fighting. It's the best year of my career, so I will just take the opportunities and I will be driving fast for sure.

Q:
And if we have the same situation again, the last lap, you ahead running 1-2, will you let him through again?

RB:
We will see. It's an internal matter, it's not up to us to talk now.

Press conference

Q:
Were you expecting that decision? When you were sitting there the other day, it was almost as though you wouldn't commit yourself to saying no, it won't happen this year, even though you said at the launch of this year's Ferrari you said you had been reassured that it wouldn't happen again.

RB:
Listen, there's no point... I feel sorry that you guys are doing that because it's been a team decision. I promise you that I have always been proud to drive alongside Michael, that's the way I took the approach, to sign for Ferrari the first time, that's the way I've taken the challenge. He's a superb driver, but I've always kept my determination. I think my time is coming around. If I'm going to be able to win races in the way I wanted, or the way I believe I can, I don't know, but today was a team decision, there's nothing to talk about. I think I've grown up from what we've had in the past. I think we should stop talking about it. It's a team decision. Today, it wasn't like last year when we were talking, talking, talking. I've been asked to do it and I said that there would be any reason for that because we were going quite fast in first and second, they told me they wanted me to do it. I said, I will do it and that's it.

Q:
So what do you have to do to win a race for Ferrari?

RB:
It's obviously be there at the right time, at the right moment. I don't wish, I promise you, from the bottom of my heart, I don't wish Michael is out of the race for me to win the race, but I just have to keep on doing my good work - and I feel very close to the guys. Obviously, I wish they hadn't said anything today, but I've got the trophy which I will dedicate to wife whose birthday it is today, and to my mother as well, because it's Mothers' Day. I'm a happy guy. I think the way the race went, as everybody saw it was probably one of the best races of my life, so that's it. [applause]

Q:
How as the car, was it faultless?

RB:
People are saying are you going faster because of the car. I feel that the car is helping, but I think it's an attitude, from the middle of last year, the way I have changed my mind and stopped this crying and just concentrated on driving. I think the car has been engineered very well and it's been a fantastic... it's done what I was expecting it to do. The changing balance went the way I was expecting so fantastic. I drove the whole race within the limits, I haven't done anything silly and I've kept it cool the whole time, so the tyres were there the whole time which was great. The car was perfect the whole way through.

Q:
Was that first pit-stop, when you both came in at the same time, expected?

RB:
I saw Michael behind me when I saw the big screen. I actually didn't know that he came in behind me because I was in front so they called me in first, but it was really amazing the way they acted so fast, and it's very nice to have a team like that, because it was a superb job and then we could go.

Q:
Did they call you in or did you say I'm coming in?

RB:
They called me in.

Q:
Michael, you've heard everyone's reaction in here and out there. What do you think it's going to do to your reputation and the reputation of the sport?

MS:
I don't think it is the way we would like to have the situation, certainly. I'm not very pleased about it either, especially the way this year is going, but then we probably have to respect the team for this decision - although maybe there isn't a lot of respect from some people. But these people who don't respect the decision don't run a team and don't know how much there is involved in the one target we have. In the end, if we may have the opportunity to do it, to win the championship, then....

If you look at last year, we had the same situation and, in the end, it wasn't probably necessary to do what we have done here last year, but you don't know before. If you look at what has happened with Hakkinen and Coulthard in 1999, Hakkinen could have almost lost the championship because of the Spa situation in 1999. If this would have happened, I'm sure some of you guys would have gone back and said why didn't you let him go by there. It's a two way situation where you never win, you will always be the loser and, as I said, I'm not very happy about it either, today. I wished they wouldn't have come on the radio to tell me this. I wish we could have finished the race the way it was. I was pushing until the end and, you never know what is going to happen, but it was clearly not enough.

He did a superb race, Rubens, today. He simply has outpaced me this weekend and that's something, from the team point of view, to some degree, challenging, I would say, even from my point of view. Having a strong guy like him next to me is really pushing me. So the race itself I enjoyed with the exception of the last couple of hundred metres.

Q:
How was the car during the race, which car did you take?

MS:
I took the normal race car, we didn't have any problems.

Q:
Was it performing as you were complaining about it in qualifying?

MS:
No, it was performing good. You saw I did the fastest lap time, so it can't be really that bad, but once you're behind and then obviously with the safety car strategy, coming in behind Rubens meant that I lost some time, then I was sitting behind Ralf and I never could close the gap any more, so I was sitting there and just had to accept that I wasn't fast enough this weekend.

Q:
Were you also called in by the team?

MS:
Yes, it's pretty natural for this situation to call in both cars. You lose less by staying behind, you lose five or ten seconds, but going round once behind the safety car means you lose maybe 20 seconds, so it was a very clever decision by the team to do so.

Q:
Do you think the sport's credibility has been damaged today?

MS:
I don't think so because we have seen this in racing all the time. I'm sure next week there will be lots of moaning and lots of complaints about this, but then you see the sport has always seen things like this, whether they are in the middle of the season or whether they are a little bit earlier or a little bit later in the season, they have always been. Some will understand, some will not understand, maybe the majority here today is not understanding. I understand this as well, but I don't think this is in our hands honestly. At least, today it wasn't.

Q:
Just a point perhaps, you have actually pulled over for your team-mate in the past when the championship was in another situation...

MS:
Yes. No, I don't think it would be any different. The thing you mustn't forget is that Rubens was very unlucky at the beginning of the season with his retirements so, right now, looking at the point situation, unfortunately for Rubens, it's too clear in my favour and that's probably why the team took this decision. If the points situation was much more close, I'm sure they wouldn't have done anything.

Q:
Juan Pablo. A relatively simple race in comparison. How was it?

JPM:
It was okay. I think to start with it was quite difficult. I was on the hard tyre and I think the safety car made my race. I decided to go as long as I could with the fuel and it really paid off. I had four or five more laps than Ralf and it was enough to get ahead of him.

Q:
You had a pretty unfortunate view of the major accident...

JPM:
I was very lucky. I could have been ahead and he would have hit me.

Q:
Did it do any damage to the car?

JPM:
No. It was going fairly quickly backwards. I couldn't even see whether it was going backwards or forwards, that's how fast it was going, then I saw on TV that it was going backwards actually.

Q:
On TV? You have been watching the big screens?

JPM:
Yeah, it is quite entertaining, to watch the race from there.

Q:
The tyres seemed to last forever today...

JPM:
Yeah, this morning I went on the hard tyre, Ralf went on the soft one, and I tried to do the race on one set and, at the end of the day, it did pay off because, at the end of the day, it did work.