Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes), Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes) and Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)
Q: Lewis, obviously we mentioned earlier on about being hooked up but that opening sequence of corners, those fast ones in sector one, getting into that right rhythm , getting into that groove, setting you on your way for a lap. Just tell us about that feeling, knowing that you’ve absolutely nailed it when you’re in that sequence?
LH: Well, it really starts from turn one. It’s probably difficult for people to understand how awesome a track it is because it’s very very technical in terms of braking, positioning, turning points. It’s a very particular circuit. Turn one, for example, is not easy to get right. And then after that, when you come into the esses, positioning is everything and it’s quite bumpy. If you see on my lap I had a big oversteer moment at one point. Positioning is everything and having a good front end and the rear to be able to follow is tough but placing the car in the right place through the whole bunch of those sectors where the tyres are going over the… overheating is crucial. That first sector was my best of the weekend. In all honesty, the poles that I’ve lost in the past years have all been in the first corner, mostly, so to finally come here and have a turn one in the first sector, the fastest, just shows progression which I’m really happy about.
Q: Nico, one of the real decisive things here is always the start, it has been all season, particularly with you guys, but this is a very particular start, isn’t it, uphill to that turn one? How do you feel about it, how do you approach it? It usually gets quite tight in there, doesn’t it?
NR: Yeah, for sure it’s a difficult one. We’ve seen many people messing up their starts in recent years, also because from practice where you’re starting at the end of the pit lane and it goes straight up hill, whereas with the real start you’re still on the flatter part where it’s very different. So it will be interesting tomorrow, for sure.
Q: Daniel, you’ve had at least one Mercedes behind you at the finish in four of the last six Grands Prix but nevertheless all four US Grands Prix here so far here in COTA have been won from the front row of the grid, so that’s something you’re going to have to overturn. You’ve obviously got some tricks up your sleeve, but how are you feeling about this Grand Prix tomorrow? Your race pace on Friday looked like you could give these guys a run for their money; if you can get in front of them maybe you could stay there?
DR: Yeah, that’s obviously the plan. We will see how tomorrow plays out. The track conditions changed quite a bit today so I think we’re going to have similar conditions tomorrow as we did today so that could have a bit of influence. We did look good yesterday. I’m the only one, I think, on the first two rows that starts on the supersoft. Sure that tyre probably won’t last as long but it might give me a bit of an advantage at the start so we will see how it plays out and have some fun. It is a good circuit round here and you can do overtaking and there’s a few corners where you can change your line and do a few little things so it’s not just a one line circuit, there’s some experiments that you can go for so we’ll see what happens. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globo Esporte.com) Nico, four second positions in the next four races are enough – is that too boring for you?
NR: I have heard this one before.
Q: (Livio Oricchio – Globo Esporte.come) Will you consider that at the start, at the first bend, during the race and also, for you and Lewis, in the last free practice this morning you put the supersofts on in the last last moment. Was it part of the strategy, not to show the Red Bulls the real potential of the car on this track?
NR: So for me, I’m not thinking about all those things, I just want to try and win the race tomorrow. It would be amazing to win the US Grand Prix and that’s all I’m going to try to do. So full attack on that, fully focused on that. And then this morning, well, that wasn’t a strategy to hide our speed. It was just that everything got a bit late with the red flag.
LH: It was just the session didn’t go as planned with the red flag.
Q: (Seff Harding – Zero Zone News) Lewis, you are seven poles away from catching your hero Ayrton Senna, how does it feel to be so close to your idol?
LH: I had kind of forgotten about it to be honest. Seven is still a long way to go but to think that I’m within shooting distance is incredible, but it also just goes to show just how amazing a driver he was. To get as many poles as that in the amount of time that he had, it’s taken me a lot longer to get where I am so it was clearly phenomenal.
