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Casey Stoner won for the third successive year at Phillip Island, with championship leader Valentino Rossi finishing second as Jorge Lorenzo crashed out on turn one at the Iveco Australian Grand Prix.

Phillip Island 2009 - MotoGP Race Highlights

Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA

1st Mark Webber (Red Bull), 1h32m23.081s; 2nd Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), 1h32m30.707s; 3rd Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 1h32m42.025s.

Q: Mark, you took the lead after that first pit stop, set fastest lap, it looked like a walk in the park for you.
Mark Webber: You never know in the first stint. I knew Rubens (Barrichello) was a bit shorter, I knew Robert was a bit shorter. I was impressed with Robert’s pace to start with and then when they pitted, I knew I had a nice clear run to get a good gap starting the second stint. I just cleared JB on the out lap which is always nice as well. And then also just making sure the tyres were nice and comfortable for the whole stint, doing enough. A little bit panicky with Robert in the second stint because he started closing and I thought my pace is not too bad, but he’s closing but the guys said he was quite short in that middle stint, so that sort of confirmed that for me. And then I was just asking a few questions: who was option, if anyone was on the option in the middle stint, how did it look, what do I need to do maybe for the first part of the last stint, because the option wasn’t too great for us on Friday, to be honest. And then starting the last start it was nice to have a bit of a buffer, so just controlled that to start with. Obviously the tyres are very good straightaway but you can’t go bananas on them. And just control the gap to Robert at about five-odd seconds and then it looks like it was going to be a stalemate and then backed off a bit earlier towards the end. So that gave me a nice run home. It’s been a fantastic day for the team, to win again. We’ve had quite a few victories this year off the back of some tough seasons at Red Bull, totally confirming second for us in the Constructors. Obviously we weren’t good enough over the whole season to win any championships but we’ve done ourselves very proud as a team, as a unit. I would like to thank Renault as well, the engines have been very good. It’s not an easy environment for them, so yeah, very, very good. It’s a special weekend for Australians because Jason Crump won the World Speedway Championship last night, a very close friend of mine, under very difficult conditions, very badly injured, and Casey (Stoner) won the motorbikes yesterday, so it’s a good weekend for the Australians.

Q: Mark, a tumultuous first lap, a lot going on. Can you talk about the conditions there? Obviously it was wet yesterday going onto a dry track surface, and what the debris was like later on. We saw a lot of debris on the back straight.
MW: Yeah, always coming off the back of a green track overnight you had to get a bit of a feel for it early on. Fuel is back in the car and last time I drove like that was obviously Friday. The track wasn’t too bad, to be honest. It could have been a lot worse, the balance was not too bad as well, but as you say, a bit of debris, safety car early on, making sure we weren’t picking up any punctures or anything stupid like that, because there was some carbon around, and then also towards the end of the race it looked like maybe Heidfeld had a moment down to turn four and put a lot of mud on the track. I was happy they didn’t put the safety car out because it would have undone all my hard work and I don’t think it needed a safety car for a bit of dirt anyway. Yeah, the track cleaned up and then I was just hoping it didn’t rain, which it didn’t, so He looked after me upstairs again today.

Q: And what was the run like on the back straight on the opening lap? It was pretty crowded, a lot of people going for that first corner.
MW: The thing that really surprised me… it’s always the same with the KERS cars, the speed difference is absolutely enormous. Come out of three, to start with, and then I saw Kimi (Räikkönen) massively late. He had a massive speed advantage. I was firm, Kimi would have done the same to me, so it had to be done.

Q: Robert, what a day for you too: first podium for the team since Malaysia, way back at the start of the season. It’s been a difficult year for the team, but for you personally a great drive from eighth place.
Robert Kubica: Difficult season, as you say, for our team, but I think yesterday we did a big part of the job. We knew it might be a dry race today so we decided to keep our low downforce configuration car like we were running on Friday. It was extremely difficult when there was a lot of water. Nick was out in Q1, I managed to put in a good lap in difficult conditions, it wasn’t an easy car to drive in the wet. I managed to qualify eighth. I think some people were disappointed in this qualifying, I don’t know why because maybe they wondered if miracles could happen every session, like in Q1, but when the track was drying, I had no chance against the quicker cars. And then today I had good pace, consistent. I think I was a bit surprised about the slow pace from Rubens and Mark initially. I was able to keep up with them. We had a problem with the water temperature straightaway. I already had to reduce rpm on lap ten of the race, so for most of the race I drove with lower rpm because our engine was overheating. Yeah, I had to pull out of slipstream every time on the straight. I was just trying to cool down the temperature and bring the car home.

Q: Mark just mentioned the second stint of the race when he was a bit worried about you. How did you feel at that point in terms of what you could do?
RK: I was very unlucky after the first pit stop. I just got behind four cars which I think were Kobayashi, Nakajima, Jenson and Sebastian. They were overtaking, I was heavy, they were light and I had no chance to overtake them. I had to take care about the temperature, about the engine, so I was not pulling and Mark pulled out a nice gap there. I was assuming I was shorter but not as short… We discussed our strategy but not as short as we were, so I had to pit with 28 laps to go and put on option tyres, I was a bit worried because after five laps on Friday, the tyres were finished. I just tried not to over-drive them, to keep them nice and steady but also to look at the gap to Rubens and it paid off. I had some problems with tyre degradation in the last ten laps, but the gaps were quite easy and I brought the car home.

Q: Lewis, on the day that you passed the title of World Champion to your compatriot, Jenson Button, you were on the podium in the Brazilian Grand Prix: a heavy fuel load, a very early stop to get the soft option tyre out of the way and a great run to third place.
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, today’s been an extremely tough day, tough weekend, and today was a huge surprise to me. I had no idea that we would even be able to get into the points. The team did a great job with the strategy but I was on a knife edge the whole way. I feel great, the car felt great. I think there are still some improvements we need to make but to fight all the way up to third from 18th I think is a great job from all the team, so hugely thankful to them for the hard work, the good job they did. I had an incredible battle with Rubens. I must say congratulations to Jenson: a great job from him, a great season.

Q: In the early pit stop there was a drama in your pit crew with Heikki Kovalainen, your team-mate. I guess you were not aware of that and it didn’t play any part in your race?
LH: No, I thought I saw a Ferrari behind me as I was pulling out and I thought it would be close but I didn’t really see that Heikki was actually behind. I didn’t see any dramas that he had but I hope everyone in the pit crew is OK and we will probably have to work on that to find out what went wrong.

Q: And third place in the Constructors’ Championship is still very much alive for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.
LH: Yeah, I’ve got the bosses breathing down my neck to get the job done, so today would have definitely made them happy and we really needed it, considering we were both right at the back and weren’t really looking to get points, so this would go very well. I’m sure the lads in the team are very happy and bosses are too.

Q: Mark, returning to you for some closing thoughts: it’s been a year of domination by one team and then another, Brawn Mercedes and Red Bull particularly. Your second win now, Jenson is the World Champion though. Your thoughts on how the season’s gone and some comments about Jenson.
MW: Well, it’s been a very interesting season in many ways. We started off with double diffusers, some teams with KERS. Then we, as Red Bull, were phenomenal in the middle of the year, the first part of the European races. Then off to the street circuits, back in July and early August and we had a bit of a tough time. The McLaren came back, especially Lewis, and Kimi also had a good run. So there have been many, many teams… six different winners this year, I think, and quite a few different people on the podium. So it’s been a mixed season in terms of performance for people. Jenson, I think, deserves the championship, no question about it. He drove very, very well in the early part. It’s not easy to have error-free weekends, with the exception of Spa, when he had problems at the top of Les Combes when it’s easy to happen when you start in the middle of the pack. He’s driven pretty well, particularly in first stints, when he’s been on the back foot and coming through, doing a pretty good job here and there. Every car has its strengths and weaknesses and Brawn, obviously, have some strengths and a few weaknesses here and there. JB’s done a good job, so I’d like to congratulate him and Brawn as well. I think he will sleep better now, because he’s been incredibly nervous, there’s no question about that. He’s been absolutely bricking himself the last few weeks, so he can sleep better now, and all of us can go to Abu Dhabi and just enjoy the new race there. I don’t think it’s going to be like Suzuka but anyway, it’s another street track.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Mark, you probably don’t want to be reminded of this, but your two previous best results here were two ninth places.
MW: I didn’t know it was that, but I had a reasonable idea that I’ve had a pretty rough run here. There have been lots of firsts this year and this is another one, in terms of getting a good result. It was an interesting first lap as usual. There was quite a bit at stake, all the guys know that. KERS cars always liven it up and once we got through all that, we then settled down, and I knew that Rubens and Robert were quite a bit shorter than me in the first stint, so I just managed all that as best as I could. They pitted and then I got a big gap after that first stop. The stop went well, the guys did a good job there. Then I had a long stint on the prime, same for everyone because we knew everyone was probably going to do a little bit of protection against the option. So we just controlled that second stint to a limit. It wasn’t absolutely bananas but it was pushing reasonably hard. Robert was obviously a bit quicker because he was pretty short and then in the last stint I looked after the tyres, got it home and it’s nice when it’s like that. I hoped that it was going to be very boring and it was. It’s good.

Q: How unexpected was the win?
MW: After Friday, I was quite confident that we could go for a victory. Our pace was pretty good, I was a little bit worried about this guy here (Hamilton) because the McLaren, we knew, would do pretty well here with the KERS and he’s also a pretty good driver. We knew he would be a force. Fortunately it was mixed up yesterday and that’s where the foundations were laid, particularly for me and Robert, delivering in those difficult conditions. Again, some cars were different to others, it was not easy to get through, but that’s where the foundations were laid for that type of day today. It didn’t come as a surprise that I had a chance to go for the victory, but it’s always nice with five laps to go that you realise it.

Q: How dry was your car in terms of settings?
MW: Hundred percent. We struggled in Q1, I think, because we all knew that we shouldn’t have run in those conditions. I was lucky to get a lap in which put me through. That was one of the toughest qualifying laps for a long time to get through that session, because I couldn’t believe the pace on my pit board that other people were doing. I thought I’m risking so much here to get through. Thankfully I did, but then when the aquaplaning got lower in Q2, it was a different ballgame and then the car came alive on intermediates in Q3.

Q: Robert, same question: how dry was your car?
RK: Well, we kept 99 percent of Friday’s set-up. Actually we were not really running proper downforce. We were lacking downforce, we didn’t have the proper wings here, so we were already lacking downforce in the dry and especially when it rained, we took a gamble. We hoped for a dry race, we hoped some people would adjust their set-up to the wet conditions, so yesterday I think it was a very good job, especially when Q1 was full of water, I was extremely quick, surprisingly quick. Unfortunately, when the track dried, our pace was not as good. Some people in our team were disappointed about row four, because they thought miracles might happen in every qualifying, like in Q1 when I was third and running very quickly but in changing conditions drivers adapt their driving, the tyres, the pressures, so all in all fourth row was good for me. Today I had a good race.

Q: I understand this result was pretty unexpected, so what will it mean for the team?
RK: I don’t know. I hope they will be on the grid next year. Of course it’s a good result after such a difficult season, which is still not finished. Here we were surprised about which downforce level we should use. We didn’t have it. We had a mixed car: Singapore upgrade with an old front wing. It was very, very tricky and we were just really covering the problems, so I’m very surprised with second place. I was very surprised by the quite slow pace of the top guys in the first stint and yeah, additionally we had water temperature problems after lap eight of the race, so we had to reduce engine revs and it was not easy. I ran most of the race with low revs and tried to keep the car as cool as possible, pulling out of the tow, so all in all I was surprised to be able to keep to Mark and Rubens’s pace.

Q: Lewis, how important was KERS here, particularly for overtaking?
LH: That was probably one of the toughest races I’ve had, not as tough as last year, clearly, but it was good. I think we qualified 18th. We were quite unlucky in qualifying and very fortunate with it being dry today. We had a very good pace, we just stayed out of trouble. KERS definitely helped at the start. If we had the fastest car or as fast a car as maybe Mark here and we had KERS on top we would be light years ahead but KERS, for us, just recovers what we lose in a straight-line because the efficiency of our car is not good at all. But generally today we did a great job, we’ve done a tremendous job to catch up throughout the year and we’re stuck with the car we have. We know it wasn’t the best car, we stuck with it and just kept pushing and pushing and pushing, and we’re doing the best we can and I tell you, there’s not much more if any more we can get out of this car. It’s been a really good learning experience and today was great. I just have to say a big congratulations to Jenson and the Brawn team, great job by them for the whole season. I definitely look forward to having a better car to challenge them next year.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Tom Clarkson – Tom Clarkson & Associates) Mark, how does this win compare to the Nürburgring?
MW: I think the first one was pretty nice, there’s no question about it. It’s nice to get another one, but probably Nürburgring was a little bit better, because it was a big relief more than anything. This one was more of a controlled fashion, I suppose, and although not too dissimilar to the Nürburgring, but I suppose I could only lose this one. I put myself in a very, very good position after yesterday in the first stint to win the race and then I had about 45 laps of getting it home. I went a little bit on the kerbs in a few places here and there and just had to give myself a bit of an uppercut and say ‘mate, just bring it together’ and remind myself that I’m not in tenth, I’m in the lead, so you just control it. It was a pretty good day. Also I just want to add to all the press guys who haven’t come in here but it was a good weekend for a good friend of mine, Jason Crump who won the World Speedway Championship. He’s very, very injured and I’m very happy for him that he’s won the World title and Casey (Stoner) won the motorbikes, so it was a good day for us guys.

Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Lewis, it’s the first time in 40 years that Britain has had back-to-back World Champions. I wonder if you could offer your thoughts on what this means over the past two years for British motor sport.
LH: I don’t think I have a clue if I’m honest. I think it’s fantastic for our country to have – I think in the last couple of years – such great athletes coming through. It’s been a good couple of years for us, with the Olympics and some seriously good talent coming through. It’s been great for the sport, great for all the fans. I’m sure the fans back home are extremely happy to have two World Champions two years in a row. I can only assume that they are very, very proud, that’s all I can say.

Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Lewis, would it be fair to suggest to Jenson that he’s only got it on loan for a year?
LH: I don’t know. That’s the plan, for sure. I’m not going to take anything away from his championship. He did an incredible job this year. He kept up the pressure, the pressure was extremely immense for him these last few races and I saw him today and whilst he was trying to keep a cool exterior, I know exactly what he’s going through. I just said to him ‘you don’t have to do it in this race but just keep your cool’ and clearly he did, so I’m very, very happy for him and his family. But I definitely plan on taking it back from him at some stage.

source: www.formula1.com

Twelve months ago, as Ferrari secured the 2008 constructors’ crown, talk turned to who would triumph in ’09. Would it be the Italian team again? Would arch rivals McLaren fight back? Or would new powerhouse BMW Sauber steal their thunder? One team not mentioned was Brawn. Then still Honda and languishing ninth in the standings with just 14 points, only a brave soul would have bet on the Brackley squad.

But at Interlagos on Sunday - with one race in hand - Brawn defied the odds, rounding off their fairytale debut season with their very first drivers’ and constructors’ title. Formed at the last minute from the remnants of the Honda team after the Japanese manufacturer’s shock withdrawal last December, it’s been an incredible story.

“It’s still got to sink in,” a tearful Ross Brawn told British Formula One broadcasters the BBC after the chequered flag fell in Sao Paulo. “It will take a while (to sink in). It’s special - very special.”

Of course, with Ross Brawn as team principal and two experienced drivers in Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, the long-term prospects for the newly rechristened team always looked good. However, nobody - at least outside the team - thought they’d be in the running for the 2009 championship.

The early acceptance that Honda’s 2008 car, the RA109, would never be up to scratch played a key part in their success. Before any of their rivals, McLaren and Ferrari included, Honda had refocused on the development of its 2009 successor. After a last-minute engine deal with Mercedes, the BGP001 arrived relatively late for the pre-season tests but instantly looked far and away the most complete car. And as the season got underway the dark horse didn’t disappoint.

Over the first eight races Brawn took four poles and six victories in the best-ever start to a season for a ‘new’ constructor. Despite a mid-season lull (by those early high standards), they have since gone on to take a further two wins as the ’09 campaign has moved into its closing stages. Never far from the front of the pack, Brawn have gone from gloom to glory in just a few short months.

That’s not to say there haven’t been moments of unease. At the Melbourne season opener several rivals queried the legality of the BGP001’s innovative double diffuser. And so while they racked up points, for several weeks Brawn didn’t know whether they would be able to keep them. Although not the whole reason for their pace (Toyota and Williams were running similar concepts), the diffuser clearly gave them an advantage. It was a worrying time, but eventually the FIA’s Court of Appeal found in Brawn’s favour and the team were clear to dominate with impunity.

By this point, however, Brawn already had other challenges to face. The first inkling of a problem had come at April’s wet Chinese Grand Prix. Whilst rivals Red Bull took a forceful one-two, Button and Barrichello both struggled to get enough heat into their tyres and limped home in third and fourth.

Although the team hoped it was a blip, the problem persisted. Indeed, whenever track temperatures verged on chilly, the Brawns tended to lose the edge off their pace and Red Bull were able to seize the advantage. The effect was arguably most obvious during the team’s home race in Britain, where Red Bull scored another imperious one-two.

As the technical might at Brawn fought to find a solution, the team’s closest competition was gaining fast in a championship fight that had previously looked a foregone conclusion. But Red Bull’s challenge didn’t prove so clear-cut either. And while Brawn -and especially Button - never really regained the level of dominance they enjoyed at the start of the year, they did at least come up with an adequate solution to the tyre temperature issues and continued to score points consistently. Mistakes and poor fortune for Red Bull, meanwhile, meant they were always one step behind.

Arriving in Brazil with an almost insurmountable 35.5 point advantage, celebrations come Sunday afternoon were all but inevitable at Interlagos - though that didn’t make them any less sweet!

source: www.formula1.com

Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel brought his world championship hopes alive again with a superb victory in Japan on Sunday afternoon, winning as he pleased and leading Jarno Trulli’s Toyota home by 4.8s despite a late safety car intervention. Lewis Hamilton was third for McLaren, another 1.5s adrift, after losing out to Trulli in the second pit stops.

Seventh place for Rubens Barrichello, just ahead of Brawn team mate Jenson Button, leaves the championship points table as Button 85, Barrichello 71, Vettel 69 with two races remaining.

Ahead of the duelling Brazilian and the Englishman, Kimi Raikkonen brought his Ferrari home fourth after a fighting drive, while Nico Rosberg made some amends for his Singapore error by taking fifth for Williams. Nick Heidfeld was sixth for BMW Sauber.

It was not a classic race by any means, as Vettel went straight into the lead from Hamilton and Trulli. Heidfeld and Raikkonen soon settled into a fight which saw the Ferrari driver move ahead after the second stops, while Button benefited from a clash between Force India’s Adrian Sutil and McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen at the chicane on the 13th lap to move to 10th after a slow start. That put him into contention for points.

It all seemed a foregone conclusion until Jaime Alguersuari spun his Toro Rosso exiting 130R on the 44th lap. That brought out the safety car from Lap 45 until Lap 49, closing the field and apparently giving Trulli and Hamilton a another shot at Vettel. However, Romain Grosjean’s lapped Renault lay between the Red Bull and the Toyota, so that fight never materialised. Raikkonen had a brief look at Hamilton but soon dropped back to keep just ahead of Rosberg and Heidfeld. Further back, however, Button had a brief look at Barrichello at the chicane before having to defend his solitary point from hard-charging Robert Kubica in the second BMW Sauber.

Fernando Alonso’s single-stop strategy for Renault earned him 10th place ahead of Kovalainen, who lost a place to Giancarlo Fisichella in their second pit stop but regained it by diving down the inside of the startled Italian as they left the pits. By the flag Fisichella had his former Force India team mates Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi right on his gearbox. Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima was 15th ahead of Grosjean, while Mark Webber’s sole consolation from a day on which he started from the pits and went back there five times with various problems was fastest lap, set on the penultimate tour.

As if Toro Rosso’s day wasn’t bad enough with Alguersuari’s crash, Sebastian Buemi almost stalled on the grid and later retired with mechanical problems.

As the drivers’ world championship heats up, Brawn have all but settled the constructors’ with 156 points to Red Bull’s 120.5, placing the latter within half a point of clinching that crown.

source: www.formula1.com

Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA

1st Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 1h28m20.443s; 2nd. Jarno Trulli (Toyota), 1h28m25.320s; 3rd Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 1h28m26.915s.

Q: Sebastian, an utterly dominant weekend for you. Fastest in qualifying. You totally controlled the race. You must feel great.
Sebastian Vettel: I do. What a race. Obviously yesterday with pole position and I think strategy-wise we were the favourites but first of all you have to do the start. We were pretty confident and had good starts in the past. Not that that was always the case at the beginning of the season, but we were confident of defending the position. But it was closer than I thought it was going to be. Going into turn one all of a sudden I saw a silver arrow on the left hand side and obviously I had the inside and it was my advantage but it was closer than I thought it would be. After that it was head down and try to push every single lap. The car was fantastic. I was able to pull a gap quite quickly, a big one, enough. Obviously with the strategy we were two laps longer than Lewis and a lap longer than Jarno in the first stint, so it all worked out. Until the end I was pretty much in control. I fitted soft tyres for the last stint and second and wanted to have a little bit of fun. I did one very quick lap, I think 32.5, then my engineer came on the radio and said ‘ok, be aware of your tyres. There might be a safety car or something’. Two laps later there was the safety car. Obviously, it is not what you are hoping for when you are in the lead by roughly 10 seconds. But, nevertheless, I was still taking care of my tyres and at the restart I was able to use it. I had a bit of a cushion with Romain (Grosjean) behind me. A very good restart and then three to four phenomenal laps again to build a gap that was safe enough to win the race in the end, so fantastic. As you said, finally we made it. I was screaming on the radio. I think in the last couple of races it was a little bit up and down. Sometimes we had the pace, sometimes we didn’t and yeah, finally we made it, so it is good to be back in first position also on Sunday.

Q: What a day for you. You lost a place at the start and then you fought the whole race to get it back again. You and Lewis were really at each other weren’t you?
Jarno Trulli: Well. I knew that the start would be the hot spot and the most difficult as I had this guy very strong at the start. Generally, we don’t get very good starts and Lewis had KERS as well, so it was pretty easy to imagine what would happen at that first corner. This time the car pulled away pretty well, so I was able to nearly keep the position, but Lewis came by and I was obliged to follow him. From then on it was a fantastic race for me as I really enjoyed qualifying laps, lap by lap, with Lewis, closing the gap and then coming closer. I was pushing again and it was not easy at all. After the first pit stop I was chasing him again. It was really hard but I really enjoyed it as the car was really strong and everything was fine. It was just a matter of pushing as hard as possible and putting pressure on Lewis. Then eventually thanks to the team and the strategy we got him at the last pit stop. From then on I think it was easy for me. But with the safety car I thought again that it was going to be a difficult restart as I thought that Lewis was coming close to me with the KERS car, but I was pulling away again, so I am really happy and I have to thank everybody in the team and Japan. It is a fantastic result. I must admit I really wanted to win but it was impossible today as he was untouchable.

Q: Lewis, what is your response to that? Did you enjoy it as much as Jarno did?
Lewis Hamilton: I did. We had a great race. I tried to get both of them at the start but they both got a really good start which is not always the case. We had quite a good battle, especially for me and Jarno. Sebastian drove fantastic, so he pulled away into the distance. Jarno and I were battling. I knew I could not match these two in the first sector and that it is purely down to downforce but in the middle sector I was quite quick and in the last sector with KERS we were very quick. But I think it was just before or just after the last stop I lost KERS, so that automatically losing us a good few tenths per lap. When that happens the brake balance changes, all these different things, so it was very hard. I had to have a three second gap before the last stop. I think I had a 3.1 and then the last couple of laps I think I lost half a second or something like that. We came out very close but once he was in front of me it was impossible to keep up with him. Well done to these two, they did a fantastic job today. We will battle them into the next race.

Q: You took a very assertive line down in the middle at the start. Tell us about your tactic there to keep Lewis out.
SV: First of all the tactic was to get a good start, so I focussed on myself. The pull-away was good and after that basically looking left and right. On the right hand side Jarno, to see if he has a better start than I have and on the left hand side Lewis. Then quickly I noticed I have a decent start, it seems to be good, so I stayed in the middle, where I am. I was ready to go to the inside in case Lewis had a really good start and then try to get to the inside of turn one and two. It wasn’t the case, so I stayed in the middle and all of a sudden he came on the left hand side alongside me nearly. But then I had the advantage going into turn one. Fortunately, apart from that, I didn’t have wheel-to-wheel racing this race. I was hoping for a clean race. Obviously when the safety car came out it is not what you are hoping for but nevertheless the speed of the car was fantastic. The circuit is unbelievable. When I was crossing the line for the last lap I really enjoyed the first sector again. It was similar to those two, like qualifying, every single lap pushing to the limit of the car. In the esses, going uphill, it is fantastic, especially when the car works that well around here. It is great, so I really enjoyed myself today.

Q: Jarno, what does this result mean for Toyota?
JT: First of all, it is a double result as we are coming from a fantastic podium for Timo (Glock) with a fantastic drive in Singapore. From there we came here and again the car looked straight away competitive, so I think the team has just showed that it is in Formula One and is proving to everyone that they can do the job. Obviously, there are still some areas where we have to improve. But being on the podium in front of your home fans is fantastic. This is down to the entire team, from the engineers to the mechanics, and as well I have to say to my team-mate who is a great person. It is a shame that he could not race today. I wish him all the best. But I must admit we are having quite a lot of fun and we are having a very productive work inside this team. The atmosphere is very nice and it is great to be, for me now, on the podium here.

Q: Lewis, you lost a place to Jarno at the second stop. You had another chance to get it back at the restart. Tell us about that from your point of view.
LH: I was on the radio for the last couple of safety car laps to ask the team if they could get the KERS working again. I really needed that to have any chance to shoot past Jarno at the start. But that wasn’t the case. They weren’t able to do that. I was generally just looking out to see if you could get as close as possible. I didn’t particularly exit the last corner close enough to him either way. He did a great job again there and that is always the case. You have to be very close to them but I wasn’t able to do so but, nevertheless, it was good points for our team.

Q: Sebastian, you’ve taken the championship on to the last two races. Sixteen points behind the leader but as Lewis knows to his cost from two years ago when Kimi Räikkönen closed that margin down, it can still be done. What are your thoughts on the last two races?
SV: You said it all. It can still be done. It is looking much better now. It would be nice to have a couple more races left, but two races to go. We are here to fight and the best thing we can do is win like we did today. I think we have a great car, still improving, the boys back in the factory are pushing very hard. We will see what we can do. We will focus on us, on ourselves, and simply try to win. Whatever Rubens and Jenson are doing it is in their hands, so I will keep on pushing.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Sebastian. A fantastic win for you. The car seemed to be tremendous. The best car you have driven yet.
SV: It is the same I had all season. Obviously, as we expected, the corners here, especially the first sector, suit our car. It will produce a lot of downforce but it is still more than just quick corners. You have also got some medium and low speed, so overall our car seemed to work very well. Looking back to Singapore we had the pace. It is a totally different circuit. A street circuit, very, very low sped, so overall it is a very good car.

Q: All the drivers have said this weekend ‘what a great circuit.’ What does it mean for you to win on a circuit that all drivers respect so much?
SV: To be honest I came into the last lap and I was regretting a bit that it was over. I was enjoying the first sector for the last time. Fantastic. Obviously I had clean air the whole race, so I was able to push at my own pace just be aware of the tyres all the time. I didn’t want to run into something funny, so I was listening to the tyres, to the car, but simply fantastic. This circuit is amazing. If you get 53 laps in a row you appreciate it even more. It is made by God’s hands, I would say. It is fantastic, especially when you have a car that works so well especially in all the high speed corners, so fantastic. I am very, very happy. Good points today for the championship. I think it looks a bit better now, so a shame only two races to go. But that’s life. We are here to fight, so let’s see. Anything is still possible as you can see. It can change quickly.

Q: You were on pole position, but after qualifying when you saw the weights did you think ‘I can do this.’
SV: Yes. Obviously, the biggest threat was lap one, the start. We knew that we had good starts in the last couple of races, except Singapore where we were on the dirty side. At the beginning of the season it was a little bit of our weakness but again we made huge progress. We had a very, very good start today. I kind of stayed in the middle observing Jarno on the right and Lewis on the left and I was ready to react. Then when I saw that they are about the same I simply stayed in the middle on the run down to turn one. Lewis came surprisingly in the last bit into turn one. I saw a silver arrow on my left. I had the inside of the corner, so that was very import and after that clean air. The car was fantastic, so I was able to push lap by lap and increase the gap bit by bit. A bit special also was, I think, towards the end of the race. On the soft tyres I had a very good feeling. I was pushing for one lap really hard to make sure I have got the fastest lap and my engineer came on radio and said ‘don’t do anything stupid with the tyres. Don’t destroy your tyres yet in case of a safety car or whatever.’ Two laps later the safety car was out. But it was still fine and I got a very good restart and was able to pull away again. From start to finish a very good race for us.

Q: Jarno, your best ever placing here in twelve races, especially as it follows up on Timo’s second place last weekend as well.
JT: I think that, first of all, it’s a good result for the team, because in two races we’ve got two podiums, two second positions and this just shows how well the team is doing. It’s still pushing hard and still trying to improve the car before the end of the season, so I’m really pleased for them: for the engineers, the mechanics, everyone. The car was purely quick from the beginning here, but obviously I couldn’t feel that we were as quick as Vettel. He was untouchable during qualifying and also during the race. Actually I thought I did an extremely good job in qualifying to put the car on the front row and it was also good not to lose too many positions at the start, because this has always been our weakest point so far this season. I knew that I could keep up a good pace and actually I really enjoyed the fight with Lewis. It was basically a qualifying race, lap after lap, trying to close the gap, trying to stay close, trying to get him at the pit stop. I nearly made it at the first one, and then at the second stop the guys in the pits did a very good job and then I got him. Once I got him, I knew that I was quicker, so I could pull away. I’m happy, even though, to be honest, second is fantastic but I still wanted to win for Toyota.

Q: Was it a surprise to come out ahead of Lewis after the pit stop? Did the engineers predict that?
JT: They kept me aware of the situation and I was closing the gap, trying to close the gap, trying to push harder and harder, and I think Lewis was doing the same, so the lap times were within a tenth of a second. We were both really trying hard but it wasn’t easy. But nevertheless, that was my only chance to try to gain a position and eventually I did it. This was all I had to do. And at the last moment, after the safety car, I was very concerned, because I thought that Lewis could get me at the restart but I managed to get a bit of a gap at the restart, so it was enough to pull one lap and then I was fine.

Q: Was there much difference in the tyres?
JT: Fortunately, we made the right choice, starting with the hard, then continuing with the hard and then putting on soft tyres at the end because the soft tyres changed the balance completely and they were not as quick as the hard ones. I think this time we got it right, so we’re happy, but in general the car has been competitive on both compounds.

Q: Lewis, it didn’t look as if Sebastian left you much room at the start…
LH: I had enough room there. I think it was fair. It wasn’t our best start, but to be honest this year we haven’t really had great starts except for when we get on the KERS button. We probably had our best start of the year at the last race. We tried to repeat it again this weekend but these two guys also got quite a good start. There’s not actually such a long straight to turn one, to actually drag past one of them was not easy. But I tried, but unfortunately the outside was not the place to be, he did a perfect job to get in the middle.

Q: A surprise to be jumped at the second pit stop?
LH: No, not really. Inevitably, we needed every tenth that we could get. I pulled the gap up to three seconds, I think, which was roughly what I needed, and then on the last couple of laps just before my pit stop we had a KERS problem and we were also just generally struggling with the car a little bit, I wasn’t able to pull decent times out of the car with a lighter car on a lighter fuel load. As Jarno was saying, we pretty much had a qualifying battle, a tenth here, a tenth there, we kept shaving tenths off each other. At the exit of my second pit stop also, I had a problem with my gearbox and the thing went into neutral, so instead of switching off the pit speed limiter and pulling away, I was in neutral for a hundred metres or something like that, so I maybe lost a second or so there. Unfortunately the time just slipped away from us, but they both did a great job here. We had a great race. Congratulations to Sebastian and I look forward to the next race; I think we should have a good one.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Jarno, as your future seems uncertain, does it give you extra motivation, especially for these three races?
JT: No, my future is not uncertain.

Q: (Takaharu Kusuda – Book People Atlas) Sebastian, perfect victory, you had a safe gap but then the safety car came out. What were you thinking, what were you feeling when you were following the safety car, and when you passed the finish line, what was your feeling as you gained the victory?
SV: Obviously, before the safety car phase, when you’re in the lead by roughly ten seconds, it’s the last thing you hope for, because with ten laps to go, anything can still happen but you kind of take it easy and bring the car home. Obviously, when the safety car came out the gap was gone, and during the safety car phase, it was all about – especially when you pass the accident – not to pick up any debris and destroy your car or damage your car, damage the tyres, make sure you don’t get a puncture. Other than that, just try to cool the car, cool the engine, cool the brakes and make sure you warm it up before you start going again, so before the restart, and make sure your tyres are hot enough to start again, to be able to push right away. Obviously, that’s crucial here. When you’ve got cold tyres, less tyre pressure, then the car is bottoming more which can make it quite tricky but I think we did a very good job, speaking to my engineer on the radio all the time. Then a couple of laps more and I crossed the line, obviously looked to the right to see the team and celebrate with them and looked to the left and saw the grandstand, all the people going crazy, and to be honest, maybe I was a little bit too slow for TV coverage on the way back to the pits, but I didn’t care. There were people all around the circuit, it’s fantastic, you know. You come here in the morning and people are already queuing on the way to the paddock, just to say hi and to wave and wish you all the best. It’s great. So I was enjoying the lap back to the pits and obviously screaming over the radio and all that stuff, so very, very happy. When you cross the line you start to realise what has happened and it’s fantastic, so very pleased.

Q: (Marco Degli’Innocenti – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Sebastian, at this stage of the championship, looking back at past races, which are the points that you are most missing now?
SV: Looking back I think we have had a great season. Obviously, we should have been more consistent in order to fight for the championship right now, it was a little bit too much up and down. Sometimes things didn’t go our way. That’s part of racing, I guess, it happens. We made some mistakes, we’ve had some trouble during the season, it can happen, but obviously when you want to fight properly for the championship, then they shouldn’t happen. But nevertheless, I think it was a very good season so far. The car is fantastic. We had three one-twos, there’s not much more to say. Looking at the championship positions, we could have collected more points, as I said, been more consistent, less up and down. In more than three or four places we had the pace to win and we didn’t, so… Sometimes it goes in your favour, other times it doesn’t.

Q: (Luis Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) Sebastian, how do you believe the next two race tracks may suit your car compared to the Brawns?
SV: Well, to be honest I was a little surprised to see the Brawns struggling here. Generally, a good car is a good car, and as they have proven, especially at the beginning of the season, their car is very competitive. I think we were all a little bit surprised. Looking at us, looking at our car, I think we should be in good shape for the next two races. Brazil is a track we know, Abu Dhabi is unknown for everyone, so we don’t know, but I think independent from the circuit type, we have always been competitive. Just looking at the last two races, we’ve been on totally different circuits: Singapore was rough, bumpy, a street circuit and very low speed and here, high speed. I think especially the parts we got for Singapore and a little bit here again, we made another step forward with our car, so it should be good. I can tell you afterwards.

Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Sebastian, ten points for you today, one for Jenson (Button); it was like a tailor-made result for you. You haven’t given up the fight even though it was really, really tough after the last race, so what kind of feeling does it give you? How much more confidence do you have regarding the championship now?
SV: First of all, I’m very happy to be in Formula One. The cars are fantastic, but more so, I’m here to challenge and in the end we want to find out who is the best, the best in one race and the best over the whole season. That’s why I am here, and ultimately that’s my target. As I’ve said many times already, I will fight until the end, until the last breath. It was obviously a good day for us, two more races like this and it’s looking better, but we will see. I think our task from now on is pretty straightforward: we have to push ourselves to the maximum and try to win, get as many points as we can and everything else is not in our hands. You can ask the man sitting next to me (Lewis Hamilton) thinking two years back. I think Kimi had quite a big gap (to Lewis) with two races to go. Everyone said to Lewis it will not be a problem, sitting in one of the most competitive cars, just get a couple of points, but you can see sometimes, as I said before, things just don’t work your way. Anything is possible. The bottom line is that we’re here to fight.

Q: (Joris Fioriti – AFP) Sebastian, what else can you do to win the championship? What is the next step you can take to win it?
SV: As I said before, it’s straightforward: win the next two races and then see what the others are doing. We just have to look at ourselves, trying to increase our own performance, get our maximum together, and if that’s good enough to win, that’s very good, if it’s good enough for second we have to finish second and not third, fourth, fifth or not at all. So we will see. The next circuit we know, we were good there last year, this year we go there with a stronger car, so it should be better and the last race in Abu Dhabi is a bit unknown. I’ve driven it on the simulator a bit but it’s difficult to know what to expect.

Q: (Nobuo Nakajima – Sankei Sports) Jarno, just after the race you were enjoying it but seemed a little bit reluctant. If so, what is the reason: the illness at the beginning of the week or because you couldn’t win in front of the Japanese fans or you couldn’t before Mr Toyoda?
JT: I think my aim, when it comes to the season, was to win a race and so far I didn’t manage it. I’m obviously happy to be on the podium, but I’ve had many podiums but what I’m really missing at the moment is a win, a win for my team and for Toyota. It’s obviously great to give them a fantastic result in front of their home crowd, but I’m the kind of person who wants more. I fixed my target and I’m extremely determined to get my target and obviously I’m a little bit – I wouldn’t say disappointed – but I wish I could fight for a win, but honestly, talking today, Sebastian was untouchable. I realised that in qualifying but even though I didn’t give up and I really tried to push for pole position at least but today there was nothing I could do. Anyway, I should be happy, I’m not saying that (I’m unhappy) but I’m missing a win.

source: www.fomula1.com

Sunday, 04 October 2009

A great win for Jorge Lorenzo at the bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal saw him reduce the gap to Valentino Rossi in the standings to 18 points.

Estoril 2009 - MotoGP Race Highlights

Ferrari finally confirmed on Wednesday that Fernando Alonso will race for the team next season, replacing Kimi Raikkonen as Felipe Massa’s team mate. Giancarlo Fischella will continue in the role of reserve driver.

Alonso, who has spent the bulk of his Formula One career with Renault, has signed a three-year agreement with Ferrari, starting in 2010.

“I’m very happy and very proud to become a Ferrari driver,” said the Spaniard. “Driving a single-seater from the Prancing Horse is everybody’s dream in this sport and today I have the opportunity to make this dream come true. Above all I want to thank Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo, who really wanted this three-year contract.

“We already had an agreement this summer starting in 2011, but then, the last days, the picture changed and we decided to anticipate my arrival in Maranello by one year. The years at Renault were fantastic: together we won four world titles (two drivers’ and as many constructors’ championships), and until this day, 21 Grands Prix.

"I wish the team all the best and let’s hope we gain some good results in the last races this year. After this season I will put all my effort in the next season: I’m sure that, together with Felipe, we’ll offer Ferrari and the fans from all over the world some great satisfaction. I can’t wait to start working with my new team.”

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali added: “We are very proud to welcome to our team another winning driver, who has demonstrated his amazing talent by winning two world championships in his career to date.”

Alonso made his Formula One debut in 2001 with Minardi, before becoming Renault’s official test driver the following season. In 2003 he was promoted to a race seat and became F1 racing’s youngest Grand Prix winner with victory. By the end of 2005 he was also its youngest champion.

He successfully defended his title in 2006, fending off a resurgent Michael Schumacher in the latter half of the season, before taking his number one with him to McLaren for 2007, where he endured a tempestuous year alongside Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso returned to Renault for 2008, scoring two race wins, despite a less than competitive car. This season the team have been off the pace once more, with Alonso taking just one podium to date, at the last round in Singapore.

He will become only the second Spanish driver to compete for Ferrari, following in the footsteps of Alfonso de Portago, who raced for the team in 1956 and 1957.

Raikkonen has yet to confirm his plans for 2010.

source: www.formula1.com

Reproduced with kind permission of the FIA

1st Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), 1h56m06.337s; 2nd Timo Glock (Toyota), 1h56m15.971s; 3rd Fernando Alonso (Renault), 1h56m22.961s.

Q: Lewis, winning from pole. What an evening for you.
Lewis Hamilton: It was a very, very tough race. I think I can speak for all of us. The conditions made it very tough, but generally the race was pretty straightforward for me. I got a good start and I just managed to bridge a big enough gap. I knew I was longer than the guys behind me, so I was never really under serious pressure. When (Sebastian) Vettel was behind me I knew that I was five laps longer than him, so all I had to do was keep him behind. I was looking after the tyres. I felt myself that I nicely controlled the race and have to say a big thank to all my team for as always doing a fantastic job and to my family for supporting me. I want to say hi to my brother and everyone back home. It was a great weekend.

Q: We heard on the radio early on that perhaps you had a bit of trouble with the KERS unit. Talk about that and that early phase of the race and Nico Rosberg putting a bit of pressure on you in that early phase.
LH: Yeah, well I don’t know what lap it was. I had no problems in the car with the KERS but the team came across the radio and said there was possibly a fault. It was still working at that point and I had to disable it and re-engage it and it worked after that. There were quite a few switch changes. I did have a little bit of pressure from Nico and the cars behind at the beginning. They just seemed to be very quick through the first sector but I was just looking after my tyres and I think it paid dividends in the end.

Q: As you said, a very demanding circuit. Did it feel like a long, physically exhausting race and talk about racing at night.
LH: It is a tough race. It is not easy, that’s for sure. It is just the temperatures. But also it is corner after corner after corner. There is never a real break and it is very bumpy. The focus you probably need here is as much as you can possibly get. But the track is fantastic. The fans here are amazing. There was a huge crowd here and they put on a great show here in Singapore again. I came here hoping to have a good result, hoping to kind of redeem myself after the last race and we did it and we are very, very happy.

Q: Timo, a great result for the team. The best result of the year so far. This time you could do it from the right end of the grid after a very strong qualifying performance.
Timo Glock: It was a really good race for me. The start was a bit of a mess up in the first corner. I had to attack quite a lot but then I had a good first stint. But I knew I could not go the pace of the first two or three guys, so I just settled down for me and concentrated on it and saw what I can do with my car, keep it on 100 per cent. Before I came to Singapore I knew that last year we were good here. The driver can make a difference here and I just pushed as hard as possible. I had a lot of ups and downs over the weekend. Friday’s first free practice I said ‘ok, we are not looking really strong’ and then suddenly we just picked up and really concentrated with my car crew and did everything right. In qualifying again I thought we would get easily into Q3 and then struggled in Q1, but suddenly we just got better and better in qualifying. A bit of a shame to not use the last set of tyres. But during the race it was really good. I lost a bit with the view where the other guys were, so after that I changed to the option tyres and I pushed quite a lot. My team did not say where I am and then suddenly they said you are safe for P2 and I was really surprised and just brought it home at the weekend.

Q: On that first lap Mark Webber ran wide, there was a bit of an incident with Fernando, but you managed to get inside him. Talk us through that and you should know that Mark was surprised that he had to let you pass again.
TG: Definitely. I saw that they were battling quite a lot and the chance could be there if they did a mistake. I just took it and I knew from the free practice than Fernando and Renault struggle a bit over the race distance and we were quite okay. I just saw that I have to get in front of him to make the strategy work. That worked out really well and at the end with the safety car coming out I just crossed the safety car line in front of Fernando and that was important. Just a perfect weekend and a podium at the right moment for us.

Q: Fernando, what a fantastic result for Renault after all that has happened in the build-up to this race. That first lap for you was an interesting one, for you with Mark. But let’s get your take on Timo coming down inside you. Was that related to the previous corner?
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, it was fantastic obviously and the result is great for us to be in the first podium of the season. The first lap was a little bit stressful arriving to turn seven side-by-side with Mark. We both ran wide and over the kerb and then Timo took the benefit there and overtook me into turn eight. Because of the battle with Webber I think I lost the position with Timo and I think we finished the race behind him, but no real complaints. To be fair it is fantastic for us. We did not have the pace all weekend to be on the podium and we have the podium, so much better than we expected.

Q: There was a lot of mechanical attrition but for Renault another aspect of this great weekend.
FA: The team have been fantastic. All season I think we have had a fantastic team. The mechanics, engineers, everybody in the factory, did their maximum. Sometimes we did get some good results, sometimes we have been a little bit unlucky. But finally this podium in this particular moment after what happened from Monza to here with the team. It has been a difficult time for the team. Now we put that behind us and we concentrate on the remaining races. I dedicate this podium to Flavio (Briatore) at home as he is part of the success we had today.

Q: Lewis, going to Suzuka now for the Japanese Grand Prix which a lot of the drivers say is their favourite circuit. You have never raced there but you do so with the team within three points of Ferrari for third place in the Constructors’ Championship. It is a weekend no doubt that you are very much looking forward to.
LH: Yeah, I am sure Martin (Whitmarsh) and the rest of the team will be happy to hear that. I am not sure where Heikki (Kovalainen) came but clearly he did a good job today, possibly. I have never been to Suzuka but I have heard that it is, apart from Monaco, the best circuit. Just growing up watching television with Ayrton (Senna) and Alain (Prost) and Fernando and Kimi (Räikkönen) racing there. I always wanted to go there. I am very excited to go. I am sure it will be a very tough weekend and undoubtedly it will be very tough to learn that circuit and master it in one weekend but I will do all I can. Going with the momentum we have from this race hopefully we will have a competitive car there.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, you said you wanted to win this but what a weekend it has been for you.
LH: It has been an incredible weekend in terms of the whole show, the build-up. It has been the busiest weekend probably of my life. I have had more appearances this week than I can remember. Obviously not a perfect Friday but Saturday was great. I have my Dad and my step-mum, Linda, here. I have my girlfriend here and I have got a friend of mine here. I got to meet Beyonce here, so it has been overall an incredible weekend. A great experience. I am very, very happy and I look forward to the celebration tonight.

Q: You never had a huge gap. Was that because you were managing tyres?
LH: Yeah, through our practice sessions our tyres never really lasted very long. I had to try and do all I could to look after them today. I also knew that the strategy I was on was very strong and I didn’t particularly need a huge gap to the people behind me. I kept a two-to-three second gap over Nico and it was good enough. Then with Vettel he was very competitive but he was again five laps shorter than me, so it had to be accepted that he was going to be on my tail, but it was never really a problem, so I just kept cruising and at the end there was a decent gap to Timo. He was putting in some good times but I was able to answer back, so I was able to keep the gap. I was very happy with it.

Q: There were quite a few drivers with brake problems here. How much attention did you pay to the brakes?
LH: I try to treat my car as good as I can. We don’t have any problems with the brakes. It has never been a problem for us, so fortunately we did a great job with the cooling and everything, so it was never an issue here.

Q: Timo, what made the difference in qualifying, because that’s been important in the races we’ve had so far?
TG: I think that for the first time since, I would say, Australia, Malaysia, Bahrain, I could just set the car up more for my driving. The car has slightly changed a bit over the year, it’s a bit more aggressive and it didn’t suit my driving style a lot for one lap, especially in qualifying. I knew from last year that you can make a difference here as a driver and you can just fight a bit more with the car. We could set the car up much, much better and we did a really good job over the weekend, we just never lost the way. We struggled in first free practice and just made our way up and just went better and better. In Q2 I just got in a really good lap and got through to Q3 and the top ten. When you see the last races when we’ve had to start out of the top ten and we made it into the top ten, I was really looking forward to the race. I just knew that we couldn’t go at the same pace as the top two or three guys, so I just said ‘OK, just find your own way, just push as hard as possible with what you have and just get the best out of it’, and at the end, we pushed at the right moment, we got into P2. The first lap was really important, when I overtook Fernando as well as under the safety car when he came out of the pits and I just stayed in front of him. That was really important for our strategy and at the end, I lost where I was really and then suddenly my engineer said ‘you are safe in P2’ and that was really surprising. I was happy with that. I think it’s been a perfect weekend for me and for the team, really important for us, a really important podium at just the right moment for us.

Q: What is the significance of this podium; why is it just at the right moment?
TG: We had goals from the beginning of the year. We started really well and got two or three podiums into the season and just had the pace at the beginning and then we had a couple of difficult weekends where we struggled and the team came down a bit. We pushed as hard as possible and then recovered over the weekend quite quickly, because we knew we had the chance to be in the top five. When you start a season as we did this year and you fall down and you fight back again, it’s just really important for the team and for us.

Q: And what are your thoughts about next weekend in Japan?
TG: It’s good to go to Japan with a podium and P2. I don’t know how our car will be in Suzuka but I think the high speed corners suit our car, so I’m looking forward to it and hopefully we can be on the podium again in Suzuka. That would be great.

Q: Fernando, I’m sure it’s also important timing for you and your team.
FA: Yeah, no doubt. It was a very important podium for Renault and they deserve this podium after all the difficulties the team had over the last two weeks, plus they have had some unlucky moments in some races when we’ve lost the possibility of podiums. I think this weekend everything came to us and we took the benefit of some circumstances like yesterday in qualifying when I think the lap was good and fifth position was better than expected. Today, running fifth, with the two penalties for Rosberg and Vettel we recovered these two positions. We made no mistakes, we kept the concentration to one hundred per cent all through the race and we knew that we were not super fast here in Singapore this weekend but if we didn’t make any mistakes we could be on the podium and we did it.

Q: All three of you were in the top four last year here; how important is it to have that experience here?
FA: It’s very important. I think it’s one of those circuits which you either like or don’t like. There’s no halfway. The people who don’t like it never find the right way, they lack confidence in some corners, it’s difficult to attack in qualifying and we know how important qualifying is on a street circuit where it’s difficult to overtake. I didn’t know that all of us were in the top four last year but I’m happy to repeat those positions.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Fernando, the hard times that you’ve had these last few weeks, did they give you extra motivation for this race and this weekend?
FA: Not really. I think we arrive very motivated to every race, so it was no different this time. Obviously now that we have this podium, I would like to dedicate it to Flavio, who watched the race at home, for sure. Part of the success this season is due to him, to the great job that the team did. I think the whole team deserved this podium because it has a been difficult for everybody, for the mechanics, the engineers, stressful weeks for them and now everything is clear, everything is behind us and we look forward with this initial podium.

Q: (Sudhir Chandran – Chequered Flag) Lewis, when my mother was in hospital some years ago, I spoke to the doctor and he said that you get just three chances to revive. This is 61 laps here, demanding clinical precision and you still come out strong, so whom do you give the credit to: your father for keeping a stoic face but then smiling at the end of it? To Nicole (Scherzinger) for being very subdued this year but smiling big time at the end? Or to the team for sweating it out and saying ‘hey man, we did this?’
LH: I always think it’s a job done by a lot of people. We wouldn’t have had the pace here if it wasn’t for the guys back at the factory who don’t always get the acknowledgement but they’re always there for me. But they are the guys that are working non-stop, really trying to get these components out, making sure that we compete for wins. But for me, the one person for me is God. He’s the one who has given me the opportunity to be here, he’s the one that keeps me healthy, has blessed me with a great family and great people around me. I think that answers it.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, is third place in the Constructors’ Championship your goal at the moment?
LH: Definitely, definitely. I think the team would be very happy with that. It doesn’t really have too much importance exactly where I finish in the championship. If you’re not first, then it doesn’t matter where you are really. First is where you want to be, but for the team, after the hard work they’ve put in, they’ve had a couple of tough years but they’ve done a great job this year and they deserve to first make a step forward and hopefully at least get third, that would be great for them.

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Fernando, how do you rate this third place? Is it the maximum opportunity that you took? Or do you think you can get on the podium again before the end of the year?
FA: Obviously you never know, but I think here was the best chance for us to get a podium. Knowing that there are some very demanding circuits to come in terms of aerodynamics like Suzuka and we would not have improvements on the car and there are some other teams that keep producing new pieces, so we know that every race is going to be more and more difficult for us. So I think we were quite confident here in Singapore and we take this podium back home to all the guys back at the factory and from now on we will obviously try, starting from Suzuka next weekend but I think it will be more difficult, for sure, than it has been here.

Q: (Michael Schmidt – Auto Motor und Sport) Lewis, according to people who listen to television, you had some conversation with your team in the early stages of the race about KERS. Did you have to switch it off?
LH: No, no. It was working the whole time, as far as I was concerned, but they came across on the radio saying that there was possibly a problem with it, but I wasn’t seeing that. I just had to make some switch changes. I believe I had to disengage it and re-engage it or something like that, restart it, reboot it. Like I don’t have enough things to think about in the car, pressing all these buttons, but it was good fun!

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, looking at the championship today, Jenson (Button) got the most out of it, even if he started in the worst position. Do you think that at this point it’s almost finished for him? I mean, he has 17 points over Rubens with three races to go.
LH: I don’t know where he finished today, but if he’s done a good job, that’s good for him and his team. But let’s not forget, I was leading by 17 points with two races to go and I lost it. It’s very, very, very tough, right up until the last moment, so I just suggest that they all keep pushing and we will see over the next few races but he’s done a fantastic job up until now, so I wish him all the best.

Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawke’s Bay Today) Fernando, given that you seem to be the key to the drivers’ market for 2010, does this podium help you make the decision as to which team you might drive for next year, including it could possibly be Ferrari?
FA: No, this podium doesn’t change anything. I took the decision already, so soon we will know.

Q: (Don Kennedy – Hawke’s Bay Today) Are you going to tell us?
FA: If you pay a good amount.
LH: I’ll give you a tenner, ten euros.
FA: Not enough. At least twenty!

Q: (Frederic Ferret – L’Equipe) Timo, you said you now have the car you had at the beginning of the season. Do you think you could win a race before the end of the year?
TG: It’s difficult to say. Singapore is a completely different race track. As I said, a driver can make a difference here. I think that as the teams are really, really close together, it becomes more and more difficult for us to win a race, but I would say that I will fight as long as possible and I will never give up. There will be a time when we have the chance to win a race and it will come and if we work as we have this weekend and really concentrate with little steps, little improvements on the car, then I think something is possible. When conditions are changing, maybe a wet race or whatever, there is another chance again, but at the moment I think we have to be realistic. The top two teams are still a step ahead of us, so it will be difficult.

source: www.formula1.com

Lewis Hamilton sorely wanted to win in Singapore after his slip up recently at Monza, and on Sunday evening he drove a pluperfect race for McLaren to deliver a richly deserved triumph.

The world champion took the lead at the start, and led throughout apart from a four lap period from 47 to 50 when Renault’s Fernando Alonso went ahead before making his own final pit stop.

After a safety car period between the 21st and 25th laps had reduced his advantage after Force India’s Adrian Sutil collided with Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari and then collected BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld after spinning, Hamilton coped with massive pressure from Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, but it was an illusion.

The German refuelled for the second time on the 39th lap, whereas Hamilton had sufficient fuel to run through to the 46th, and thereafter all he had to do was conserve his brakes in a race that finished just before the two-hour time limit.

Behind him Jenson Button increased his world championship points lead by one point over Brawn team mate Rubens Barrichello as they finished fifth and sixth, but the final podium places were far beyond them. They fell to Timo Glock, who drove superbly on a great pit stop strategy from Toyota, and Alonso, who was in feisty form all weekend for the beleaguered Renault squad.

Vettel should have beaten both, but had to take a drive through penalty after speeding in the pit lane during his second refuelling call.

The man who was kicking himself most afterwards was Williams’ Nico Rosberg, a lowly 11th in a race in which he shouldered up to second ahead of Vettel at the start, and might just have challenged Hamilton later on. The German was a comfortable second when he pitted on Lap 18, but unaccountably he crossed the white line exiting the pits and plummeted after the safety car period when he too had to serve a drive-through penalty.

Heikki Kovalainen drove an undistinguished race for seventh in the second McLaren, and Robert Kubica kept his BMW Sauber ahead of a duelling Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in the closing laps to grab the final point.

Behind Rosberg, Jarno Trulli was an overshadowed 12th in the second Toyota ahead of a lacklustre Giancarlo Fisichella in the second Ferrari, and Vitantonio Liuzzi who gathered more experience of the only Force India to finish.

Both Toro Rossos retired in the pits after fuel rig problems, caused when Alguesuari ‘did a Massa’ and dragged his rig with him during his second stop after taking off before instructed by the team’s lollipop man. The Spaniard was classified 15th, after ultimately succumbing to brake problems, ahead of team mate Sebastien Buemi, who went out with transmission woes.

Mark Webber’s race was ruined when, having taken fourth place on the opening lap after a bold skirmish with Alonso and Glock, he was ordered to hand it back by the race stewards for running wide during the move. Later, after losing out in the pit stops, he crashed out after brake problems affected his Red Bull.

Sutil’s incident with Heidfeld came in Turn 14 on the 20th lap when he tagged the back of Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso, which had been holding up a train of cars since the start. As the Force India spun it hit an innocent Heidfeld and both retired. Romain Grosjean was the other retirement, stopping early with suspected brake problems on his Renault.

The result leaves Button on 84 points to Barrichello’s 69 with three races to go, while Vettel remains third with 59 and Webber fourth on 51.5. In the constructors’ stakes, Brawn have 153 points to Red Bull’s 110.5, but McLaren are closing fast on Ferrari with 59 to 62.

source: www.formula1.com