PRESS CONFERENCE
Q. Lewis, that looked like a pretty perfect qualifying session. Were there any problems for you?
LH: I wouldn't say it was a perfect qualifying session. I think it was a step forward from my previous qualifying session in Singapore. I think Q1 went really well. I think Q2 also went very well, I didn't seem to be as quick as Felipe there but going into Q3 the first lap wasn't great, my first lap didn't seem to be spectacular but I managed to pull it together on the last lap though I did lose a bit of time I think in one corner. I think in the last corner I lost maybe a tenth. But generally it was quite a good lap, so I am quite happy.
Q. What about for the race itself?
LH: For the race, I think we're obviously in a perfect position to make a step forward and try to score as many points as we can collectively, me and Heikki. It's going to be a tough race with Kimi there, and also you could see Fernando was very strong. So it's going to be a tough race. We don't know what the weather's going to be like but we just have to focus on our job and try to score as many points as we can.
Q. What about the atmosphere in the team? Ron Dennis mentioned it yesterday; do you feel there's a real buzz within the team, a really positive atmosphere?
LH: I think there always has been, to be honest. It's a fantastic team. They've just kept their heads high and just kept pushing forward and working and working. I'm sure many of you have absolutely no clue exactly how hard these guys work but when you go back there and you see it firsthand, it's very impressive. As a result of all their hard work, we have fantastic reliability and a very competitive car. We work so well as a team, all together, and me and Heikki really work well together, so I'm very, very happy. He just said he's very happy in the team, so it works very well.
Q. Kimi, Ferrari very quick in Q2 on low tanks but you didn't seem quite as happy on heavier tanks.
KR: I think I was happier with more fuel in the car. I'm still not where I want to be but it's been fighting, fighting all the time with the car but little by little we will get to where we want to be in the end. Two second places is still good but the car is still not where I want it to be.
Q. Nothing you can do to the car between now and the race, so will it better on the full tanks?
KR: Usually in the race it turns out to be not too bad but qualifying has been the most difficult thing for us, not just this year but also last year. We are still looking and trying to find exactly where I want to be. When you end up in qualifying after this morning, we were not one hundred per cent sure where we wanted to be and of course you cannot change the car much, so it wasn't easy but we're pretty happy that we've got second place after all the work that we have done and try to improve different things for me and it seemed to work a little bit.
Q. What are your own tactics going to be during these last three races; mathematically you still have a chance for the championship?
KR: I think it's as small as it was last year but it seemed to happen last year, so I try to win races and that's all really. We want to win both championships as a team, so we will see what we can do. I think that we should have a strong car tomorrow and we see if we can win, it would be nice, but if not, we try to take the maximum points from the races but we definitely just want to go for wins in the last three races and see where we end up.
Q. Heikki, it seems that you've felt confident with the car right from the early stages of the weekend.
HK: Yeah, I've felt confident all the way through the weekend, and to be honest, I've felt confident on a few other weekends previously but the results just haven't always been the maximum but nevertheless we've kept working really hard and just moved on. Today or this weekend has been straightforward, the car's felt that it had very good balance all the way through the weekend, a bit of work overnight from yesterday improved it again today. In qualifying, the first session took a little bit of time to get up to speed, to feel the grip and to find the rhythm but after that it was pretty straightforward and third is pretty good. Of course, I would rather be on pole but I think third is not too bad.
Q. Where do you see your role in the championship battle?
HK: I don't think my role is very big because I can't win it any more. I think the best I can do for the team is try to score the maximum points in these remaining races and try to help the team to try to win the Constructors' Championship. Obviously Lewis has a chance to win the Drivers' championship but we have no instructions. In Formula One you can't have any instructions anymore, so I can decide whatever I want to do. Surely we would like to win both championships but Lewis takes care of his job, I do my job. If I have a chance, I will try to win a race, no doubt about that, but we work as a team, and especially at the end of the season, I look to do the best for the team. If there's a chance I can help the team to win the Constructors' Championship I will do it.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q. (Bob McKenzie - The Daily Express) Lewis, you get pole but then you get out of the car and you've got the bonus of seeing that two people have nipped in ahead and Felipe is back in fifth. Do you think then 'that's great, I thought he was going to be right behind?' What's the feeling?
LH: To be honest I was just happy to see Heikki pull up alongside. I think it's great for the team and that's all I was really thinking of. At the end of my lap I was hoping that Heikki was either beside me or at least behind me, so we could both score as many points for the team.
Q. (Ingo Roersch ? Sport Bild) Lewis, were you not surprised that Felipe was only fifth?
LH: You can say you were surprised because he looked very quick through Q1 and Q2, so my thoughts were probably the same as yours but I don't know the reason for it ? maybe he made a mistake, I don't know, but there's still no doubt he will have a strong race.
Q. (Juha P??talo ? Financial Times Deutschland) Kimi, when you say that the car feels better with a full load than without fuel, can you just describe the difference between those two situations? How much easier is it with the fuel load?
KR: The set-up or the handling is better with the fuel than without quite often for me, so that's the difference.
Q. (Takeharu Kusuda ? Lapita) Lewis, could you give us your impressions of the Fuji circuit under blue skies? And I heard that you like Japanese food, did you eat teppanyaki yesterday?
LH: Are you suggesting that that's my secret? No, I didn't have teppanyaki yesterday. I ate with my team here. I really like this circuit. It's particularly grown on me even more, I think, since I've been here. I think yesterday, when we had blue sky and you could see Mount Fuji, I thought it was just quite incredible, when you drove round turn ten you could see it, the mountain there. I think it's really cool. And the track isn't that long but it is still a real pleasure to drive in the wet and the dry. I think other circuits aren't so much fun in the wet but this track has a different surface, so it's great fun in the wet. Also the facilities, the place is just very calm and we always have good spectators.
Q. (Ingo Roersch ? Sport Bild) Lewis, Robert Kubica recently complained a little bit about your driving style. Sometimes he said you are going a little bit too rude. What do you say about your critics in this way?
LH: I do my talking on the track, so I haven't really got much to say to it. I think everyone has their own opinion and I can respect that.
Q. (Ed Gorman ? The Times) Lewis, are you aware that there's an investigation about an incident between you and Nelson Piquet which we understand is being investigated by the stewards?
LH: Are you serious? From qualifying? I don't think I've been overtaken throughout qualifying, so... I don't think so. At one stage he pulled out of the way of me during the qualifying session but I came in that lap.