Alonso, Hamilton and Massa take questionsAfter qualifying at the head of the grid for the Monaco Grand Prix,
Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa take questions from the media.
Q: (Sal Zanca – Associated Press) Fernando, what kind of race would you like
– a dry, sunny and straightforward one or a tricky one with a chance to show how good you are?
FA: I would prefer a sunny race and a completely dry race. It is already special and a lottery at Monaco always, especially this year with the new Safety Car rule that can be a drama tomorrow for everybody, so I think starting from that problem even if you had a wet track, it would be a very difficult race and starting from pole a normal race is better for me and would mean more points for sure.
Q: (Rodrigo Franca – Racing Magazine) You three said Monaco is special because of everything. Ayrton Senna was remembered just yesterday and I would like you all to say something about him…
FA: I say always the same because for me in Spain it was not possible for me to watch Formula One because it was not on television when I was a kid, but some of the news that was coming to Spain after the Formula One races (made it possible that) I was able to see Senna winning races because it was 88 and 89 the good years of Senna and McLaren. I always remember that white and red car and the yellow helmet of him. He was my favourite driver even if I did not see him on TV because he was in the news.
LH: Ayrton was my favourite driver and when I first started watching Formula One it was the red and white car at the front and as a little boy I was always dreaming of driving that car and I am driving it now and, so, you know, when you come to Monaco… I have lots of memories of watching him win here and when he lost a race when he crashed and I was definitely emotional when he passed away, but still … it is great to be racing here and to be doing as well as he always did when he was racing.
FM: I was a big fan of his and all of us. He was particular here in this race he was a kind of king of Monaco and it would be nice to have him here just for five minutes to ask him what he was doing here just to help me a little bit!
Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Felipe, was there any way you could have got pole position, maybe with some strategies, or were McLaren just too fast?
FM: I don’t know. The strategy we will know tomorrow. So after the race maybe I will tell you if it was possible to use a different strategy to take pole position. But in the end maybe the pole position is not everything and the race is the most important thing. We have a reasonable good strategy – we will know that tomorrow – and I think I did a good lap as well, but I think pole position today was a bit difficult.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) For Alonso and Lewis, you are first and second on the grid and in the championship. All the drivers this year who led through the first corner went on to win the race. Will you talk to each other about the start?
FA: The team will say to us something I think. We respect each other obviously and want the best for the other one, inside the team, and we want to beat our opponent that this year seems to be Ferrari and starting first and second at Monaco what we aim is to finish first and second because it is the most points and apart from that I don’t think there are any problems between us and it should be just a normal race.
LH: I agree. The team will speak to us before, but we are professional. We respect each other and we are team-mates and we want to do a good job for the team, but we also want to win and we will go into that first corner probably not as aggressively as we would if we were going into it with a Ferrari. But we are going to be conservative and see what happens. We are on different fuel strategies, similar pace. So we’ll have to see how it goes. It is going to be difficult tomorrow with the conditions and also you never know when the pace car is going to come out. We’ll see.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Felipe, did you feel extra pressure as the only Ferrari driver fighting for pole?
FM: No, usually, we drive alone. We don’t drive with two drivers. We have our own cars and we drive alone. So it didn’t mean anything to me.
Q: (Frédéric Ferret – L’Equipe) Lewis and Fernando, how is the pace of the McLaren in the long runs?
LH: I think we have seen in the past the Ferraris have been extremely very quick, but I think if you look at it we have been the quickest this weekend. I think we have a great car, the best car, and I think on Thursday we had a very good long run, very consistent, so I have no worries going into the race.
FA: Same.
Q: (Stéphane Barbé – L’Equipe) Fernando, at the end of the day, are you able or not to know the fuel strategy of your opponent?
FA: Not really. We try to analyse the whole weekend all the times of everybody and estimate what fuel load they can run. But it is not so easy and not so precise. Especially here in Monaco you can go up and down two-tenths very easily with a kerb you touch in a bad way. So this weekend our estimation will not be very important. We just need to do our (own) race and hope it will be better than the others.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Kimi had a bad day. Do you think this will have an affect in the championship?
FA: Well, there are 17 races and we saw, unfortunately, in the last two years, that after having a big gap in the middle of the season, it can disappear in the end. If you do a good last part of the championship, you can win, as Michael did last year – he was 25 points behind me after Canada and then equal in Japan after six or seven races. So I think even if you lose points now, it is not over. You can do a good recovery in the last part. But it is so tight and close between Ferrari and McLaren this year that any mechanical problem that you have with your car is costing you a lot of points unfortunately.
LH: Sorry, I was in a daze there… I didn’t know if that question was for me! I think it was unfortunate but I don’t really know what happened to him. I thought he spun and I got held up by Felipe. He had to stop and I had to stop on one lap, but I think it is difficult for him at the moment. Obviously, Felipe is doing a better job and whether he is being more fortunate or what I am not sure. But he is doing a good job. As Fernando said it is a long season and there is a long way to go so he has time to catch up if he needs to.
FM: I agree with what Fernando said. He said everything. The only thing is that he had a bad qualifying, but if it is raining maybe he can have a good race tomorrow even starting from the back. You never know. The races here can be very different. But it is also true that there are many races to go. It is important also to be consistent, every race, but there is nothing finished yet. You can recover. Maybe one of us can have a bad day tomorrow. I had already my bad day in qualifying at the first race.
Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Lewis, are you happy to curb your natural instincts at the start of the race tomorrow?
LH: Yes, I think you have to run on your natural instincts and see how the start goes. If I get a better start and it looks like I can pass, then I probably will, but I won’t do anything silly to risk pushing both of us out of the race. It is a long, long race and I think I feel good about our strategies and I feel we can come away with a one-two. So, it is important we are sensible.
Q: (Malcolm Folley – The Mail on Sunday) Lewis, have you had a chance to put into perspective what starting the Monaco Grand Prix from the front row of the grid will feel like?
LH: I think it is going to be, well…Driving this track, every year, is just something special for me. To come here and to drive for a team I always wanted to drive for in my first Grand Prix here, it’s a very, very special moment for me. Tomorrow, we just want to finish the race in the points, continue the way we have been going this season. It will be amazing to be sitting at the front there.
Source FIA
