Drivers in attendance Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes),Sebastian VETTEL (Ferrari), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)
Q: Lewis, interesting strategy by both of you in Q1: you went out on the medium tyre whereas a lot of your competitors including Sebastian went with the harder tyres. Obviously you were thinking about tomorrow’s Grand Prix. Do you see it being quite an interesting race, an open race from a strategic point of view?
LH: It generally always is here. Last year we had a three stop, it’s very very tough on the tyres here, so particularly with these hot temperatures plus the race has come earlier so it’s even earlier if it is dry. Yeah, it’s going to be a real challenge for everyone including the car but also with the tyres and the strategy.
Q: Sebastian, obviously one of the big changes for Ferrari this year is the straightline speed which has been very strong. You’re losing time to these guys in the middle sector which is the kind of thing you used to do in your Red Bull days and sacrifice a bit of speed on the straights, but how do you see it from that point of view, driving the Ferrari tomorrow?
SV: Well, we should have a good car anyway. I think we had a decent Friday, I think we should have done our homework. Obviously now we see what we can do to prepare the race. Obviously we can’t touch the cars but the balance was pretty good in qualifying and as I said, on Friday it was pretty solid. We seem to be looking after the tyres. I know that this race can be a difficult one just as mentioned before, on tyres plus you never know with the rain, there’s always a chance so it could mix things around. Starting where we do, I think we have a decent chance to do well tomorrow and could be up for anything.
Q: Nico, I think it’s the second longest run of the whole season down to turn one and obviously the way it goes right and then left, we often see quite a big shift in field position as a result. That’s one opportunity for you, strategy the other. What is your thinking about the Grand Prix tomorrow?
NR: Well, definitely looking forward to it because we have such a great car. I had a good run on Friday so race pace is good. Starting on the clean side so hopefully I can attack Sebastian and get behind Lewis and then race Lewis from there.
QUESTION FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, could you clarify please the radio message at the end, when you were talking about the lines on the track? Who were you referring to, please?
NR: Because it was an unusual condition out there which we haven’t practised, I was just interested to hear what the guy who was first did in terms of lines and I didn’t know it was Lewis, so I just asked what lines was he doing. Was he doing normal dry lines or more towards wet, but that information is banned, so I got a reply ‘can’t tell you.
