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

Drivers: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), Jenson Button (BAR)

TV unilaterals:

Q:
You are wearing a black armband, I guess, in tribute to the passing of Umberto Agnelli. I guess as tributes go it doesn't get much better than that - a one-two led virtually from start to finish.

Michael Schumacher:
Unfortunately, we have to face with what is happening but, obviously, we would like to dedicate this success to him personally, as he was a great supporter of Ferrari for all the years. He has always been around and it was a shock to hear the message, so I hope you sort of understand that the celebration and excitement is obviously reduced.

Q:
You made a very, very nice clean start into that first corner on what looked to be a pretty light fuel load, as we now know.

MS:
Yeah, we were a little bit lighter, but I guess, if you see how much lighter we were, it doesn't justify all the gap we had in qualifying, it simply means that we got a very good qualifying lap in and everything worked fantastically for us. I had a good start and that was half of the race, basically, to get the gap I needed and then just sort of drove it home safely.

Q:
Any bad moments after that, in traffic perhaps?

MS:
Actually yes, there was one particular one - and I don't know what was going on there with Mark when he came out of the pit-lane. I went past him and he must have seen what car was in front of him. As I was turning in suddenly, in the sort of side line, very late, I saw him flying into me and I was really shocked. Fortunately, I could open the door. It was just this little moment of me not seeing him and he would have crashed into me. I don't know what was going through his head, what he was trying to achieve there, but that was a bit of a moment.

Q:
Rubens, you used a two-stop strategy compared to the three of the bulk of the race and had quite an eventful race. There was a lot going on in the first corner behind you.

Rubens Barrichello:
Well, actually, I just saw that because I had a good start. I was alongside Jenson and we were going into the first corner pretty clean. Everyone had a problem there because it is really a corner where you practically stop. I think I may have touched one of the Renaults, and I didn't see that there was a Williams behind - but there was no space for another car there.
Q:
Can you tell us what happened on the opening lap when Kimi Raikkonen took second place? Did you see that?

RB:
No, I had too many things to do before I could see! When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was in fifth and he was already in second, so I didn't actually see what was going on.

Q:
And then there was the incident with Takuma Sato, where he collided with you in the first corner. Did that damage your car?

RB:
Yeah, the car was strange afterwards. I think I lost a part of my bargeboard and, aerodynamically, especially at high speed, the car felt a bit strange. So, I was lucky that the race was getting towards the end, basically. I am sorry to say it, but I think it was a bit too amateur from Sato to do that, because he wasn't in a position to actually try and overtake. He came completely sideways and, luckily, the same as Michael just mentioned, I saw the nose coming and I just took avoiding action. I was lucky that nothing else broke on my car. He could have eventually overtaken me because he was fast enough, but he didn't need to be that lap. He wasn't in contention on that lap.

Q:
Jenson, this is your fifth podium position of the year. It is getting to be a habit.

Jenson Button:
It is, but this one was a little bit more lucky than the others. Takuma, obviously, drove a great race up until the moment where he lost his front wing, but I had a pretty tough race because, after the first two pit-stops, I came out in traffic with cars on the same lap as me, so I had to get past them and it was pretty tough. It is pretty tough overtaking here. I was able to do that but it cost me a lot of time.

Q:
You would include David Coulthard in the traffic there, but you eventually got him on the outside of the first corner.

JB:
Yeah, he made a bit of a mistake on the last corner, and I was able to get him into turn one on the outside - which is pretty brave, I suppose - but I had to get past because he was slowing me down by almost two seconds a lap. We were struggling.

Q:
What are your thoughts on the weekend? Obviously Taku got a little bit more out of the car in qualifying. Is that what made the difference for you?

JB:
He had a very clean lap in qualifying. I don't know if I was over-driving or what, but I just felt like I had very low grip. And it shows, you know, if you are starting at the front it really can help your race position. But, as I said, he drove a good race and it is obviously a pity for him.

Q:
Michael, that was Ferrari's fourth one-two of the season. It looks as if it is just getting better or, perhaps, is the opposition falling away?

MS:
Well, I think, as Jenson just mentioned, it wasn't a very clean race for him, and then Takuma was very quick, but didn't finish the race and he had this collision with Rubens, so we won't find out what could have been if he had finished. We are there, we are strong, you know, we do look better due to other circumstances at the moment.

Press conference:

Q:
Michael, those opening laps must have been absolutely remarkable because you built up a lead of 17 seconds in just seven laps. What was it like driving those laps?

MS:
Well, it was fantastic to see how much I was able to pull away. I think I was greatly helped by Kimi being second and not being able to be passed by whoever was behind, because I felt that the consistency of his pace compared to Takuma and the Renaults and Rubens would have been different. So this gave me the edge in the race and I just had to save that until home.
Q:
So, how confident were you at that stage?

MS:
I was pretty confident because I knew, strategy-wise, what that meant to me in coming out straight behind all the other guys after the pit-stop. It sort of gave me the confidence that that would be 90 per cent of the race already.

Q:
And that educated guesswork on the tyres - no problems with those?

MS:
No, didn't look like it.

Q:
Certainly didn't! Rubens, two stops instead of three stops, are we going to see you using a different strategy to Michael every time from now on?

RB:
No, it is not that. I mean, sometimes you think that, if you are first in qualifying, you can pretty much take your pace and do everything you can. Looking back on it now, I had the pace to fight with Michael for a qualifying lap but, just before that, we thought that Michael was a little faster so to be second on the grid, if that was the case, would have been bad because, you know, on that dirty side and so on, you had to play with a little bit of luck. So then another option was given to me and I liked it and I think the tyres were doing a superb job. Eventually it worked out, worked out in a way that it was good to pass almost everyone but Michael, so it was still good to start seventh and finish second, but not good enough not to be in first place.

Q:
You mentioned that the car was damaged when Takuma tried to overtake you. How hard could you push, because at one point we thought it was possible that Jenson could catch you?

RB:
Well, I had to push really hard to begin with when my tank was full. That was the period where I knew I was damaging my tyres, but I had to push because there was no other way and I was in the middle of the traffic, so it was really hard. Eventually, when we had the crash, it took me two laps to get the handling of the car, to know what it was doing. It was a little bit worse on the high-speed corners, it was definitely worse over the bumps to turn ten and eleven, and then the team told me Jenson is coming faster and you have to push again. But the car didn't have the pace of before, so I couldn't go much faster than that anyway.

Q:
Could you see any damage to it when you got out?

RB:
No, no, no. The front wing was intact, which was good and I was asking on the radio. I felt a bang but I was lucky that when he was hitting me I was turning left and I just saw the nose coming too fast and I just took that avoiding action which I think kept me alive.

Q:
Jenson, you were fourth at the end of the first lap, what did you see of that very lively first lap?

JB:
First of all, Takuma was in second position and then they got into turn four and I think Jarno - or one of the Renaults - was down the inside of him and he turned in and they both ended up going wide and Kimi was able to get into second place.

Q:
And what about your own first lap?

JB:
My own first lap wasn't that good. I was surprised to see Rubens able to get past me off the grid. My line for the first corner was to be on the outside and brake as late as I could to get as many cars as I could round the outside. But Rubens was in the way, so it was a little bit difficult.

Q:
How was the car after that?

JB:
The car wasn't to bad, but the problem was that we were all stuck in a train behind Kimi, which I am sure helped Rubens as well, because the cars at the front weren't able to pull away at all. As soon as he pitted, the car felt very good, but the problem was that, after my first two pit-stops, I came out in traffic that was doing two stops, I think, and I struggled to get past them.

Q:
And then you were pushing at the end?

JB:
Yeah, at the end, the car felt very good. There was a little bit of oversteer on the exit to the corners and, apart from that, the car was good. But, you know, I'm trying to conserve the engine as well, as well as pushing, so it's quite difficult but, when I got to the last lap, I knew I couldn't catch Rubens, so I backed off.

Q:
You say you were conserving the engine - was that because of Takuma's problems?

JB:
It's quite normal at the end of a race. It's normal for most teams, but obviously we're doing it more than normal because of Takuma's problems?

Q:
Is there a reason that these things happen to him and not to you?

JB:
I'm not sure. The strange thing is that it happened immediately after his pit-stop, after his fourth pit-stop because of the wing problems, so I don't really know. He drove a very good race and he was very, very fast. But one mistake like that can cost you the race.