2007 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX FIA PRESS CONFERENCE
Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Felipe Massa
Saturday, June 16, 2007, Indianapolis Motor Speedway
MODERATOR: Congratulations to the fastest three qualifiers for the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Third for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro, Felipe Massa. Second for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, Fernando Alonso. Scoring his second successive pole, also for Vodofone McLaren Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton.
Lewis, third race now McLaren have had it all, McLaren Mercedes front row. Brilliant performance, again on a circuit, of course, you've never been here before.
LEWIS HAMILTON: Yeah, quite surprised, to be honest. Going into qualifying, we hadn't really found the best, optimal setup. And I knew that Fernando was also extremely quick here. But it's great to see that the team, that we're so quick and ahead of the Ferraris mostly. And but going into the qualifying session, I had to put it all out and on my two last laps in Q3 were spot-on. I think I just beat my best lap at the end, so I couldn't be happier. I didn't expect to be pole, I thought Fernando would have been quicker, but obviously not.
MODERATOR: It's your second lap, just quicker, but perfect in any sector, a very strange phenomenon. But a slight drama last night, had to change the race engine before you came out this morning and we hear, also, you have a little bit of hay fever this weekend.
HAMILTON: No, I wouldn't say I've got hay fever. Just yesterday I think some, I don't know, not really getting much sleep lately, probably just enjoying it too much.
But I didn't feel great, but they had to change the engine and I think it was an assembly problem or something. But the engine performed very well. So obviously I'm ecstatic and really didn't, as I said, didn't expect to get pole again but very, very pleased and happy for the team.
MODERATOR: Congratulations to you.
Fernando, in many way commiserations to you. Fastest in every session so far except the all-important Q3 and just beaten for the pole.
FERNANDO ALONSO: Yeah, it's been a good weekend for me, no doubt. I was fastest in P1, P2, P3, Q1, Q2 but not the important one, Q3. But being fastest all weekend give me a lot of confidence for tomorrow. Yes, Q3 we know is different matter, and we place many, many factors in Q3. So I think for tomorrow we can have a strong race, and I'm totally confident.
MODERATOR: What were those last two laps of Q3 for you in terms of what you were able to do on the tires?
ALONSO: I think both set of tires were really close to time lap, and I didn't improve too much in the second. I think it was worse. And I had to, you know, quite good grip in the car, and I was quite happy with the laps, as well. So, you know, I think tomorrow we can do really well.
MODERATOR: Congratulations, Fernando. Felipe, it looks like Ferrari is definitely closer to McLaren Mercedes than they were in Canada. I guess it's a surprise that we have to say that. What's the car like from your point of view?
MASSA: Well, for sure, we are a bit closer but not enough. We should be in front, not bit closer. But for sure the situation is a little bit better than Canada. Canada was pretty difficult weekend for us. Here, you know, starting third in second row is not the disaster. We know that McLaren is going to be strong in the race, as they were in every session. But we need to work hard. We need to fight until the end, and that's what I'm going to do tomorrow.
MODERATOR: Where do you feel the difference is now between the Ferrari and the McLaren Mercedes, if you had to pinpoint the difference?
MASSA: I mean, it's not something which really I want to say. I think it's something we need to understand and try to do better in our car. We should be in front of them. We have some ideas, you know, in the car, in the aerodynamic, in the engine just to improve the situation. But we need to do as quick as possible.
MODERATOR: Thank you, Felipe.
Returning to you, Lewis, the first time you've raced in the United States. Your thoughts on the atmosphere here, on getting the pole here at Indianapolis and indeed the Speedway itself.
HAMILTON: Getting my second pole is even better than obviously last week. You know, but again when I came across the line and the team told me I had P1, again screamed in my helmet and just through the whole lap just extremely ecstatic. But the audience, the crowd here has been fantastic. I can see outside my garage over in the grandstands someone has a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes sign with Lewis on it. So it's great to see. And there's a lot of British flags out there, but also a lot of support from the Americans. So we're very happy.
MODERATOR: Well done to you.
Thank you, gentlemen.
Press Conference
MODERATOR: Here they are, the first three on the grid, Lewis Hamilton on pole again, Fernando Alonso making it an all-Vodafone McLaren Mercedes front row, and Felipe Massa on the third spot on the grid. Congratulations, Lewis.
LEWIS HAMILTON: Thank you.
MODERATOR: Really, two laps that were good enough for pole.
HAMILTON: Yeah, I was quite surprised, to be honest, mainly because obviously it's my first time here. I haven't really been performing as good as Fernando has. Going into qualifying, just throughout the whole weekend I'm always trying to find that little bit more, little bit more. And each time I go out, I improve and improve. Sometimes you don't improve, but you learn through it. Going through the whole of qualifying, I was finding other bit of time through my driving. Saw some places where I could find time in. Going into my qualifying lap in Q3, I had the car felt very good, I made certain adjustments on my steering wheel, and the balance was very good and I managed to get a clear lap. Going into my second Q lap, I knew that Fernando would obviously be pushing extremely hard, as well as everyone else. And I managed to pull out, I think it was a tenth in the first sector, but I lost it in the middle sector, so I was a bit nervous about that. But I managed to gain some of it! back going across the line. So a little bit faster again. But I was quite surprised to see that Fernando didn't match it or do better.
MODERATOR: How hard have you had to work on that middle sector? Because that's the technical bit, isn't it?
HAMILTON: It is, and as experience is everything here, so the more and more I get out on the track, the faster I get. I think yesterday, you know, straight away I got into the first sector and the last sector, which they're not the hardest sectors to do, but I was still quite quick there, and I was losing I think half a second or something in the middle sector. So that's where I've really had to work away and chip away at it step by step. It's gotten better and better. As you saw, I didn't do purple sectors, but I just was very, very consistent. That's the key, obviously.
MODERATOR: Just clarify for us, you had a new race engine, but there's no penalty for that, is there?
HAMILTON: No, because we were all going this weekend, everyone has a new engine. The majority do have a new engine this weekend. So it was going to be the engine we would use. But before we allocated it, we had to swap it because, well, we had a certain problem with it.
MODERATOR: OK, thanks very much. Well done.
Fernando, it sounded like Lewis expected you to be on pole position, and Peter was sort of saying you had all the times but obviously could have been on pole, could you?
FERNANDO ALONSO: Well, I don't think so. I'm second and one-tenth-and-a-half or whatever behind. So I did my maximum in Q3. It has been a very good weekend so far for me on top of yesterday and this morning in Q1 and Q2. So that's, you know, that made me very confident for tomorrow having a good race. I think I have the pace and the weekend has been so far good and why not tomorrow?
MODERATOR: Who would you prefer to be fighting, Ferrari or your teammate?
ALONSO: My teammate, because that means that the team is doing well and we can take some advantage from Ferrari.
MODERATOR: OK, thank you. A quick word with Felipe. Are you as competitive as you hoped here?
FELIPE MASSA: When I'm behind, not. When we are behind we are never 100 percent satisfied, for sure. The situation looks a little bit better compared to Canada. But, you know, just needs a little bit more.
MODERATOR: Do you think you have the strategy to take the fight to McLaren during the race?
MASSA: I don't know, I thought we had the strategy in Canada but it was completely the other way around. Depending on the race tomorrow, we see. Hopefully we can have a good strategy for whatever kind of race.
MODERATOR: Are you feeling confident?
MASSA: Yeah, for sure. We never give up. McLaren in these last three races putting this race, as well, they made the step forward. We just got some troubles in these races. But, you know, we have the team, we have the group, and we have the car to improve. Hopefully we can have a fantastic race tomorrow. But, you know, it's time to improve the car as quick as possible to have a good fight for McLaren in the next races. But I'm looking for tomorrow and tomorrow; I will fight until the end.
MODERATOR: OK, some questions from the floor. Raise a hand, if you would. Questions?
Q: A question for Fernando. Was your last lap perfect or did you make any mistakes?
ALONSO: It was good. I think, as I said before, I was up also one-tenth better in the first sector. I lost it in the second sector. So, you know, it was quite similar to the previous lap, and I didn't improve the lap by half a tenth or something like that. So it's on the limit. You know, we are all on the limit, and sometimes you find one-tenth that you didn't expect and sometimes you lose, and you don't know why. But, no, the lap was quite good and no, no big problems.
MODERATOR: Some more questions?
Q: Felipe, when you came here to Indianapolis you say that this was a track which was supposed to sweep for Ferrari, much better than Canada. Are you surprised that they are still in front?
MASSA: When you saw them in front in the last two race, you cannot say that this is a surprise because they were already quite strong in the last two race. But we expect to be a little bit better than Canada, which we are. So I don't know if it's enough to win the race tomorrow, but at least we need to fight and thinking for the next race already that you have two weekends, two weeks to work on the car, and it will be very crucial to bring the best we can to the next race. But I think we are better than Canada, and I'm confident for tomorrow, as well.
MODERATOR: Some more questions?
Q: What's the main problem that you are facing, the tires or is it the setup?
MASSA: I think, you know, I think as far as setup, we work on the weekend to find the best setup, and I think we found a good setup. But we just was missing a little bit for speed compared to McLaren. So that's it.
Q: Lewis, in this country there's a real, seems to be a real tendency, urge to refer to you or compare you as the Tiger Woods of motor racing. Is that fair? Is that accurate? Can you do anything to help, for the profile of Formula One in the United States, like Tiger did for golf?
HAMILTON: I don't know really what to say to that, to be honest. It's obviously nice to be compared to someone like Tiger Woods. But just have to remember I'm not Tiger Woods, I'm Lewis Hamilton, and it's Formula One. It's not golf. Whether or not it can have a similar impact on the audience in America, I'm not sure. It will be good for the sport if it can, and I hope my purpose here serves its place.
Q: For Fernando, in the last part of your last lap, you brake to safe well? You pass slowly across the line.
ALONSO: Yes. Yeah, because I can see the time I will do here on the steering wheel and I knew that was slower than before, so, you know, we start thinking tomorrow's race.
MODERATOR: Any more? Last question.
Q: Question for Lewis. Last week you started from first position in Montreal. Have you learned something about starting first in Formula One or was it just the same as GP2?
HAMILTON: No, it wasn't the same as GP2. There's, obviously I had a bad start in Canada, but it's just a different experience, and there's definitely some things I've taken from it. To see how aggressive some of the drivers are, but, you know, you have to be cautious, but at the same time you want to keep your spot. I just have to make sure tomorrow I get a good start and try to defend my position. I'm not here to -- you can't win the race in the first corner, you have to get around and be safe and bring it home. So that's going to be my target.
MODERATOR: Thank you very much, gentlemen.
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