With:
1Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren)
2Jenson BUTTON (McLaren)
3Felipe MASSA (Ferrari)
Lewis, Ferrari were fastest with Fernando in Q1 and Q2 but you managed to save the best for last.
Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, its been a tough weekend but weve managed to work on the setup and the package the guys bought from the factoryand theyve done a fantastic job. So, congratulations to the team and great for the lads. Yeah, managed to get a half-decent lap at the end of Q3, or at the beginning of Q3, and its great obviously for the team to have me and Jenson at the front.
Jenson, its been very close all weekend. How do you see the race from where youre starting?
Jenson BUTTON: First of all Ill just echo what Lewis said. For us both to be on the front row, its fantastic for the team. I think the last few races have really shown our strength and qualifying both of us on the front row is greatI dont know if any other team has been able to do that this year. Tomorrow well start thinking about in a little while butI dont know, even being on the front row is not going to be an easy race here but its the best place to be.
Felipe, we saw you working with Fernando this morning in practice, and again in qualifying, doing slipstreams, helping each other out. It worked for you, but wheres Fernando?
Felipe MASSA: I think he had a problem, to be honest. I mean hes supposed to be in a good direction for the qualifying as well, so I dont know which problem he had but he had a problem in Q3 and was not able to complete his lap. But anyway, Im happy with the lap I did, so I was able to do a good lap. I was always caring about the tow, to find a good tow, but then on the last run when I did my best lap I was completely outside of the tow, so it was better for me, and I was able to do the best lap from the weekend in the last try in Q3, so happy to be here. Its always a very important race for us, so looking forward for it.
Back to you Lewis, you mentioned its a tough weekend, obviously a lot of distractions going on off the circuit. How easy has it been for you to put all of that out of your mind and focus on the race tomorrow?
LH: I havent had any distractions this weekend so its been quite positive. The support from my family and friends, as always, has been incredible, so just been enjoying the weekend. Its been pretty smooth so far.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Lewis, well done, it seems to have been a perfect weekend for you so far but just now you called that a half-decent lapits good enough for pole
LH: I think practice was a lot better for me. I had much, much better laps in practice but I cant complain. Generally I didnt think that lap was anywhere near good enough and I was up, I think, a couple of tenths in my second lap but I was in a train of cars: Kimi and two Ferraris in front. So, I wasnt really able to better my lap but none the less Im happy and Im really happy for the team because theyve been doing a fantastic job. Obviously had great success in the last race with Jenson and to have us both up here is where they deserve.
The stats say a lot of winner from pole position over the last ten years, something like nine out of ten have won from pole position. So that must be encouraging as well?
LH: Not particularlyI think that one that wasnt a winner was me! In 2009 maybe? When I was on pole.
You seem to have hit the ground running from the start of the weekend, and just yesterday you said it was just fine-tuning. Is that whats been going on?
LH: Yeah, yeah, just getting used to the setup to try to find us a time everywhere. Its a beautiful track, just such an incredible circuit, and I think, probably the more and more you drive it, the more you appreciate it. Of course you have to respect this circuit. Its such high speed. And also the fans here are absolutely incredible. Such passionate people who love motor racing, pure motor racing, so its great to see.
Of course its great to have an all-McLaren front row but is it better to have your team-mate alongside you or would you prefer somebody else?
LH: Its not bad or good. Its good because its good for the team and we can score maximum points for the team tomorrow. And so thats, for me, the way I think.
Jenson, a winner last weekend as well, and here you are on the front. Youve qualified second here before. Your feelings about being second on the grid?
JB: Relatively happy. I started the weekend pretty happy with the car. We tried a couple of things on Friday, which I dont really think worked out for us, so we were struggling a little bit on Friday afternoon. Today the car has been much better. In qualifying because of the heatit was much hotter than this morningthe car is moving around a lot more. This place, it really reminds me of karting, because its all about keeping the minimum speed up, especially through Ascari and Parabolica. So youre always listening to the engine revs through the apex and you know if you're quick or not. Its a really interesting place to drive. In Q3 I realised how much a tow makes. In practice we were getting tows but it was difficult to work out if it was actually quicker or not. But in Q3 it was and I was able to get a reasonable off Vettel, which surprisingly made a good difference.
Ferrari seem to have practiced the tow this morning and put it into effect, certainly for Felipe, this afternoon. Is that something McLaren considered?
JB: No. Thats something that we well, personally, I feel it's very difficult to plan something like that. Its difficult to get it right. You concentrate too much on it, you can do, and you can get your breaking point wrong or something. Its a tricky one. The way that we did was much better, just finding traffic on the circuit, so it worked reasonably well.
Felipe, how much of a difference do you think it did make, having that tow?
FM: For me it was no different because I made my best lap without the tow. We were trying a lot to have a good direction for the two. Its never very easy to make that in qualifying but I think we were able to do a little bit in Q1 and Q2. Fernando helped me on the first try on Q3 but he was supposed to do his lap on the second time, I was supposed to help him on the second lap. And then we came in at the same. And then I was behind Vettel, he braked completely, he almost stopped his car in the second chicane. I passed him so I said Id try, just to see, as I never did one lap without the tow. I think it was nice to try even knowing that I had already my first timed lap in Q3. I tried and I improved, so I was pretty happy to do that. The car worked quite well in the corners, so maybe you lose a bit on the straight but we were able to gain more in braking and cornering. I think it was good; it was a nice qualifying. Unfortunately, Fernando is not here because he had a problem with his car but he was very quick as well. Lets concentrate on the race tomorrow where Im in this place, and Im very happy to be here.
Yes, its your best grid position of the year and here you are in front of the Italian fans, so very satisfied?
FM: Yeah, very satisfied its in this place. But Im happy and really looking forward to it. Its a very important race for us, a very important race for me. And Im looking forward to a good race in front of these fantastic people, as Lewis just said.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi - La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, did the pit wall tell you that Fernando had a problem and when you found that out, was it a big relief? It seems that qualifying was likely to be a fight between you and Fernando today.
LH: I didn't hear of any problem. I saw on the TVs, as I was doing my first lap, I saw that Fernando pulled in out of his first lap and then in the second I just assumed that he was up ahead, so I was just pushing and focusing on my laps.
Q: (Vladimir Rogovets - Znamya Ynosty) Felipe, Monza is usually a very good race for you. Can we tell our readers that Massa has re-found his talent?
FM: Yeah. I'm happy with the car. We were able to do a good lap so we are heading in a good direction, very happy with the performance and concentrated for the race. Unfortunately I never won here at Monza in Formula One but I've always done good races. Before Formula One I always won all the races I did at this track so I think it's a very nice track which I enjoy a lot. I used to live close by when I was doing Formula Renault so I really enjoy this place and I hope we can have a fantastic race tomorrow.
Q: (Vincent Marre - Sport Zeitung) Lewis, how have you prepared yourself mentally since you arrived in the paddock this morning? Has something changed compared to the other races, due to the particular context? What are your rituals?
LH: It's been pretty much the same. I've qualified on the front row for quite a few races now so I just continue to do the same thing. I think it's nine times or something that I've been on the front row this year, so it's been pretty good qualifying for us.
Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) Felipe, considering how you've gone on Friday and this morning, is it realistic to believe you can beat McLaren in the 53 laps of the race?
FM: That's always the direction we need to take. We go to the grid thinking about victory, thinking about doing the maximum you can to win the race and that's what I'm going to do tomorrow. They are very strong, they are quick but we have 53 laps in the race, we know how different the race can be compared to qualifying so for sure I want to try everything I can.
Q: (Vladimir Rogovets - Znamya Ynosty) Jenson, you will probably not be in the same team as Lewis next year. Tomorrow, does it give you more motivation to fight?
JB: Where am I going? Sorry. That's the first I've heard of it.
Q: (Vladimir Rogovets - Znamya Ynosty) Does it give you extra motivation to fight Lewis?
JB: Yes. I think we all love a good fight and we all love a challenge. Having a competitive teammate, sometimes you think 'damn, sometimes I wish I didn't have such a competitive teammate' but a lot of the time it's good because it pushes you and you can see where you are in terms of your performance in a race weekend. There are positives and negatives, but I think there are more positives than negatives.
FM: Which are the negatives?
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi - La Gazzetta dello Sport) If I'm not mistaken, none of you three have won here in Formula One. Could you explain to us your feelings today that you have the best chance to win tomorrow? Felipe, I think that it's also important to finish on the podium. I think you missed the podium since Germany 2010, I suppose or Korea?
FM: Yeah. It's important to everybody. None of us won here before so it's very important for everybody, very important for me. I know how important it is for me. As I said before, I will try everything to win and to do a good race.
Q: (Sylvia AriasParabrisas Argentina) Felipe, is this extra pressure for you? We all know how important it is for you and we expect the best of you, but do you feel this is extra pressure?
FM: I think I know very well the pressure I have so it doesn't change anything. We just need to do the best on the track. You always have a lot of pressure. We just need to concentrate on the race. It's a very important race tomorrow for me but also for the team so let's concentrate on that. When you race for Ferrari you always have a lot of pressure.
Q: (Bob McKenzie - Daily Express) Jenson, Lewis, Martin (Whitmarsh) said on TV that it will be an interesting first corner. How much thought do you give to that between you? Do you discuss it or just race it?
LH: Just race it.
JB: It doesn't matter who is next to you, it's always an interesting first corner as you put it, especially here. It's a reasonably long drag down to turn one. You can't plan turn one.
