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Question :
A
question for all you: there have been seven different
winners in eleven races this year, five still to go,
you all have a chance in the championship. How much
are you looking at the championship, and how do you
rate your chances?
|
| R.Barrichello
:
Honestly, I think, race by race. I think it's been quite
good to have won the last race and put me a little bit
better into the championship. It's closer than ever,
but it's probably one of the most difficult situations
as well because you have ten points for the first and
five points for the fourth – something like this – so
it's still quite difficult to get back all the points
that we have lost during the season. So it's possible
but I don't know, I want to win races now, so I'm not
thinking of the championship.
|
| J.P.
Montoya
: Same,
really. You've got to take it race by race and see what
happens. I've got to make sure I finish every race and
take good points home and if you can win a race, go
for the win, if you can finish second, finish second.
When you get to the end of the season, you see where
you are. It's very difficult to say which way it's going
to go. |
| R.Schumacher
: Basically
the same. Simply, you have to finish every race and
score the points and see where you are, and hopefully
win as many as possible. To win races? The package has
been brilliant recently. I have been quick in the last
five races, so I wonder what I should change, so I guess
we have reasonably good chances to win races this year.
|
| M.Schumacher
: I
guess everybody sitting here have their opportunities
and possibilities to win the race because we have all
been so close together that it's very difficult to predict,
but at least we all have the opportunity. |
| K.Raikkonen
: I
guess it's as good as any of the other guys. Like they
say, it‘s difficult to catch up even seven points but
as long as we keep scoring good points and hopefully
more than the others it's fine. |
| Question :
Michael,
first of all, football yesterday, lots of people, high
scoring match, how did you enjoy it? |
| M.Schumacher
: Yes,
every year it's a great event, I have to say. It's organised
very well and it has established itself even better.
We've had good players there, a full stadium, a good
atmosphere, so I was really impressed with the way it
was and it was great fun for me. |
|
Question :
An
interesting rumour from the German press about Jacques
Villeneuve moving to Ferrari in the future; what do
you think of that?
|
| M.Schumacher
:
I have no feelings about that honestly. There have been
plenty of rumours and we know the media, how easy it
is to make a rumour so it's probably one of them. I
don't see any seriousness in that honestly. I think
we want to improve our situation… |
| Question :
Michael
and Rubens, Formula One in your countries is very popular
but it is also popular throughout the world. What is
it about Formula One that makes it more popular than
any other form of motorsport? |
| M.Schumacher
: I
guess it starts with the fact that most human beings
love cars and Formula One is the ultimate speed for
car racing, the highest competition you have in car
racing and I guess it is the main reason why it is loved
so much. It gives very entertaining races over a long
time of life as I remember and it has grown in popularity.
|
| R.Barrichello
: I
think in Brazil Formula One is as popular as football
because since the 1970s when there were the championships
that Pele won and so on, football was even more known
than Formula One but I think in Brazil because of the
TV recognition you can see Formula One is the main thing.
You can try all the different categories but Formula
One is the main thing people like to watch. Even though
we have some races that are quite bad in terms of audience,
the last race was phenomenal, so Formula One is still
on top. |
|
Question :
For
all the drivers: do you think this World Championship
would have been so close without the new regulations?
|
| R.Schumacher
:
I don't think it is down to the regulations. Maybe part
of it, but I think in my opinion it is down to the teams;
performances were a bit weak. At the beginning of the
season one team was pretty strong, then came another
team and all of a sudden it is us stepping into it and
that's part of the reason. And if anything the points
system helps it a bit but I don't think that the qualifying
actually changed the results. |
| M.Schumacher
: Yup,
I feel that except for qualifying, you can maybe argue
that the new rules do change positions but at the end
of the race it all comes back to a normal situation
and that is not due to the rules. |
| Question :
Was
that the situation at Silverstone, do you think, that
the two safety car periods had massed up the order so
much that you had quicker people coming through from
the back which made a much more exciting race.
|
|
M.Schumacher
: Yeah,
but this was nothing to do with the rules. That is
another subject. Put simply, racing and fighting for
position and why we have such a close championship
is simply because everyone is much closer together.
|
| K.Raikkonen
: The
same. I think nobody knows really. Is it really the
new rules or something else because we will never know.
I guess the teams are, like Michael says, much more
close together now and it makes it more interesting.
|
| R.Barrichello
: I
think it has changed in a way - for the better or for
the worse - it has changed. I don't personally think
that we have to calculate the points with the other
rules because that is not the way it is going to be.
I think we just have to enjoy the new rules as much
as we can right now. It is different, but I don't think
Silverstone was because of the new rules, it was just
because of the safety car and it was a bit of a mess
in the middle of the race, and that made it more exciting.
|
| J.P.
Montoya
: The
same. |
|
Question :
Michael
and Rubens, at Silverstone the characteristics of
the circuit suited your car. Here is a little different,
there aren't so many high speed corners. Do you think
it will be harder race between you and Williams and
McLaren?
|
| M.Schumacher
: I
don't know honestly. You may think that way, but I think
since we have done quite a significant step forward
with the car side from Silverstone onwards I believe
that that's not really the case, that it is true to
justify this profile. Let's wait and see. |
| R.Barrichello
: We
made the improvement after Magny-Cours, so I think that
even so, we think it's going to be very competitive.
We've made an improvement, it remains to be seen. Of
course, Silverstone was quite good for us but, as it
was here last year; it was quite good as well so by
making an improvement, I hope it's enough. |
| Question :
Michael,
you drive one of the best cars in the world. If you
had a chance, just for fun, to try a different kind
of racing car, just for testing, what would you like
to do? |
| M.Schumacher
:
I would like to drive a better car. I don't know any.
As a racing driver, you like to improve yourself and
find new challenges and I don't think there's anything
beyond Formula One, at least for me. |
|
Question :
A
question for all the drivers; the championship is
much more interesting for all us on this side of the
microphone; how much more interesting is it for you,
because it's so much more close, there's more competition,
five of you pitching for it?
|
| M.Schumacher
:
I guess we have different opinions here this time. To
some degree a fight is always great but honestly I didn't
mind the last three years either. |
| R.Schumacher
: Well,
for me, I don't know. I've always said that realistically
there is a theoretical chance, but obviously, Silverstone
has proven how quickly the chance goes away. So I'm
just trying to score as many points as possible and
not concentrating on the championship. |
| J.P.
Montoya
: I
think it's pretty good. I think you have to really wait
and see how far it goes. We've still got five to go,
so I think it will be really interesting if it can go
all the way, I think for the fans. Whoever is leading
probably wants to finish it before, but everybody else
probably wants to finish before that. |
|
R.Barrichello
: I
think it's quite interesting for us, as well. It's
not the fact of who's going to win at the end, it's
the fact that we have different winners in different
races. It's made it quite interesting. You can see
that from the public, we can see it from our point
of view: we have more racing. You could go home saying
‘I didn't have a good qualifying lap but tomorrow
I could be OK' and it's not every day it's like Silverstone,
but you know, if you have overtaking, you can be happy.
I think it's quite interesting for us as well.
|
| K.Raikkonen
: Um, yeah. Of course it's a new situation
for me but it's an interesting season. OK, it's very
difficult and hard, but I guess that's what makes it
more interesting for all of us. |
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