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Question:
Michael, what's it like fighting with your brother rather than McLaren?
Michael Schumacher: Fun, I'd say! I think we should tell him that he's so young, and things should be slowly built up! No, he is doing well, and it's great to see him there. The team and himself have built up something which they can be proud of and they're giving us a good challenge. Honestly, where is the challenge coming from? In the end of the day, when we're racing, it doesn't really matter. I'd rather see him there, honestly, than somebody else, because we know each other well from the past, we know how to handle each other in races. So I look forward to that, but it will be competition on the circuit.
Q: Talking about the challenge, are you surprised by how badly McLaren have done this afternoon?
Michael: Fourth? You call that 'so badly'? The time difference is surprisingly big. They did look this morning reasonably competitive, and then they've faded off for whatever reason, but we have seen last year them not getting qualifying together and then do well in the race. So Mika is still in a good position to have a good race for himself. For David, it might be – it certainly is – a bit more tough in eighth position, but that's the way it goes.
Q: Coming back to yourself, we've been used to seeing you set blistering qualifying times then almost sit back in the garage and wait for someone to come at you. It seemed much more difficult today. Were you constantly changing the car?
Michael: Not so much, no. My first run, if I wouldn't have had this wobble it would have made my situation a lot more comfortable. But due to that we then had to go for several changes in order to make up the time. I knew my last run can be faster due to the circumstances, and we did, so we all concentrated to get it right for the last run.
Q: Rubens, congratulations on second place. Again you steadily improved. Were you making a lot of changes?
Rubens Barrichello: Not really. I made a mistake as well on the first two runs. I made some changes to the car that didn't go my way, so after that I took the right direction, let's say, and I was much more comfortable with the car on the third run, and I knew as well that I had everything for the last run. It's quite close, and I'm really happy. I think it was a really good lap. It's just that things are hotting up and it's quite nice.
Q: During qualifying the wind seemed to get up. Did that affect the handling of the car at all?
Rubens: In a way, you could see we were going faster one way and slower the other way. You just had to have that in mind because when you have the wind behind you during the braking area it could have some effect, so that's all, really. The car seems to be really good, I'm on the pace, and I'm giving my friend here a tougher time than last year, so I'm quite pleased with that.
Q: Ralf, I suppose we're slightly surprised to see you here in third place today, but are you surprised?
Ralf Schumacher: Well, I'm definitely surprised, to be honest. After yesterday's performance I didn't think that we were anywhere close to that position. We were unexpectedly close to Ferrari, but that is just in qualifying. I think we had a good package together today, I got a good lap in too, so I don't see us racing against them or McLaren tomorrow. We will try our best to score a few more points.
Q: Given how fast you've been – you did actually put three good laps together – why do you not see yourself being able to keep the pace in the race?
Ralf: Especially, with them you never know where you really are. In Melbourne they were playing games in qualifying and then the real performance in the race, so let's wait and see. They have a gap to the rest of us still. We have still something to do for the tire situation, we don't even know how it is in racing. Obviously Michelin hasn't race here, so there are so many question marks I don't want to think about racing against Ferrari tomorrow. I would rather look after myself and try to finish the race.
Q: But do you think you have an advantage, because Wiliams are one of only two teams to have tested in very hot weather in South Africa, and obviously it's going to be very, very warm tomorrow?
Ralf: We have tested, but as we see, we are not first, so it didn't seem to make that much of an advantage! It is always good, but we mainly do it for ourselves, for temperature problems we might get in case of weather like that, that's the only reason.
Q: Michael, obviously I have to ask you a very similar question. It's very, very hot: you look very cool, but how's the car handling it?
Michael: No, the car actually is very well prepared for this kind of temperature. Yesterday we checked on race circumstance, what is the cooling situation, and we looked very easy on that. More easy than the driver cooling, because the drivers get very hot in there, so we need to work probably harder on that side than on the car. The tires are performing very well, Bridgestone have made beautiful tires for these very hot circumstances, and obviously fast on top, reliable, consistent, and so is the car. So I look forward to having a good race tomorrow.
Following the international television portion, the press conference continued:
Q: We enjoyed that. How did you enjoy it?
Michael:. Pretty much – it was good! I was saying to Ralf before, our father must have gone mad with his heart rate, and our mother. They're more nervous than we are, and seeing us two there must have been entertaining.
Q: Michael, you're under pressure from all sides now – not only from your teammate, but from your family as well!
Michael: Yes, it's true. I prefer that, honestly. I know him better than the others.
Q: So who would you prefer sitting beside you on the front row? You've got your teammate – which of the two would you prefer?
Michael: (He (Ralf) is too fast on the straights, so obviously it's nicer to have Rubens next to me so we two can keep him hopefully behind us.
Q: But then your brother's behind you?
Michael: After the start, yes, I hope so.
Q: But it was a fantastic session. Did it go according to plan? Your problem corner seems to be the one going on to the back straight?
Michael: I had once a big moment, actually at the corner before that, the very fast chicane, Turn 12. I lost the car almost completely and it's not really the corner you want to be sideways and looking in the wrong direction, which I did. Then obviously, the next corner, I was on the wrong line, I was on the dirt. I knew when I get everything together we can do better, and when I saw the time, then I knew it was close to being enough. But then I still had to wait to confirm it.
Q: It was still a quick lap, first time round.
Michael: Yes, but I lost about seven-tenths or eight-tenths just in the last sector, which was mainly the problem of that one situation.
Q: But otherwise are you feeling fairly happy about it all?
Michael: Yes. Our car was handling well. It was a little bit difficult to find the way how to use tires and how to get the set-up then for that, it wasn't so easy, so straightforward, but we managed in the end to find the right direction.
Q: Obviously heat is going to be a problem tomorrow. Have you got any particular formulas that you're going to use to cool yourselves?
Michael: It's difficult to put dry ice or other ice, you're going to burn! There is only a little bit of water and that's it.
Q: Obviously drinks?
Michael: Yes. But honestly, as it is right now, it's not too bad. Yesterday it was quite a bit hotter, and that was very tough. But I think it should be more like what we have today for tomorrow.
Q: Was it fairly strategic choosing to go out? Normally you wait until the last moment, but in fact this time you went out about five minutes before the end.
Michael: Yes, I looked, and I saw everyone had a run to go and it would have just been a mess out there at the end, and pure luck to get a lap together, so we took the gamble to go out early.
Q: Did the cloud cover alter things very much today?
Michael: Probably for the first run it was a little bit slower but then the clouds were there consistently until the end.
Q: Rubens, you've been so quick all weekend. Are you a little bit disappointed to be second?
Rubens: I'm not, to be honest with you, because it's great when you can have a good car working, and you just give everything you have into a track like this that is pure effort. I know that it was lacking a little bit on T1 and T2, the first two turns, that's the ones that sometimes are not effort, you have to keep your pace steady because you can lose it quite easily. I lost a little bit of time there, and if it wasn't for that, that little bit that's missing might not be there. But in a way I'm really happy with the lap. He (Michael) is having much more trouble than last year, and that's quite good. They say he's the best, so I'm close.
Q: To be within a tenth?
Rubens: Yes, it's really good. I feel good, I feel really settled inside the team. I was three-tenths faster than him this morning, but you can never discount him. He's going to be fast for sure but at least you know that you never discount me as well, so it's good.
Q: I don't know if it was you who tried the new aerodynamic package this morning, but Ferrari tried it anyway. Have you decided against it – the double front wing?
Rubens: It's all experiments. Ferrari is always trying new things, which is good. We brought that here but unfortunately we didn't have much time to see if it was really better or not, so we took it off for qualifying.
Q: Will you use it again? Do you think you'll use it tomorrow morning?
Rubens: Still under discussion.
Q: You had a good look at the Williams, the two of you: in fact you were looking more at that than at your own cars. What were your basic conclusions?
Rubens: That it's a really, really fast car on the straight, I tell you. They are really going very fast on the straight. You can feel that when you follow one of them, that they're going fast. Obviously with an engine cover you cannot see the engine, but having a good look at the tires is always good for information.
Q: Tires all right, were they?
Rubens: They looked okay!
Q: Ralf, well done – you looked as though you were enjoying yourself out there as well?
Ralf: When I started off and was at first just slightly quicker than Rubens, I knew that they were going to go quicker. When Michael had his problem in the last turn I knew we had to go mid-35. What I didn't know was that we are actually able to do it! But yes, we proved that we had a good car and a good package today, although I wouldn't be over-excited about it. We had a good day today, but obviously Michelin hasn't been here racing, and we still have some problems with the car, so I wouldn't expect us to be that strong in the race. But we will try our best and try to score a few points.
Q: You sat and saw the last time of Michael's and shook your head...
Ralf: I was up there, and I was expecting him to go quicker. Then when I saw the first sector, I hoped: sometimes a driver can miss a sector, and I must admit it would have made my life easier if I didn't need to try afterward. But for me it was simply the limit, a 35.5. I'm happy to be as close as we are today. I think we are far better than anyone expected, to be honest.
Q: Some people would say, what has made the difference from Melbourne to here?
Ralf: The biggest difference here is that the tire fits better to this circuit. It is exactly the same tire, but in Melbourne it was the first shot for them, and we seem to struggle on circuits like that a little bit at the moment. We had that as well during winter tests, so we have to do some work on it. Even here it's not perfect yet, obviously, but it's working a lot better.
Q: Would you prefer a softer tire?
Ralf: A different tire. (Then he added:) I didn't mean a different company, I meant Michelin – just a different sort from Michelin, just to put that right!
Questions from the floor:
Q: Ralf, by the disparity in the times, it looks pretty obvious that the tire war has really begun, and Michelin, even though they are in their first season in F1, have made a big stride?
Ralf: I think Michelin have done a good job. I wouldn't call it a real war, it's a fight, and it's good for Formula One, in my opinion. It raises the game, gives some more opportunities to some teams, and even for teams like us today, if the tire fits a bit better to the circuit we can show up, and I think that's good for Formula One.
Q: Michael, how much are you worried about your difference in straight-line speed to the Williams?
Michael: As I said before, after the start it could be a factor. But we have been considerably improving our start situation, so if we get a good start and things are normal I think we should be up front and we should be able to stay up front because our consistency is very good in terms of lap times, and it's difficult to overtake. It is more easy when you have the straight-line speed they have, but I hope we can keep it up front. We are a little bit faster, as you see from the times, and that should be enough just to pull the gap, and they shouldn't really be in a position to overtake unless we have problems or make mistakes.
Q: Ralf, you said you're not 100% confident to be keeping the same pace in the race as you did in qualifying against the top teams. Is it possibly down to the tire choice as well?
Ralf: No, I wouldn't say that is a problem. We chose the best we had here. Obviously the problem is we simply don't know what's going to happen throughout the race. We had a Friday which looked relatively promising, but as you saw as well in Melbourne they (Ferrari) seem to be pretty strong in racing and I'm not so sure whether we can follow them. But anyway, at the moment we're happy with what we achieved today and we will just go into tomorrow's race and obviously try our best. But I think McLaren is going to push from the back, because what I have seen last time in Melbourne is that they were quite far away from Ferrari in qualifying but all of a sudden in Sunday's race they seemed to give them still a little bit of a hard time. So I expect them to be quick tomorrow and it will be difficult for us then.
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Enrique Bernoldi