Question:
First of all, a question to all of you. What do you
think of the circuit and Bahrain as a whole?
Kimi Raikkonen:
I thought that the circuit is quite nice. It's a little
bit slippery because there's quite a bit of sand there
but it was getting better. Overall, I think the place
is pretty nice. I like it.
Michael Schumacher:
Yeah, very much the same. I'm quite pleased with the
circuit and the layout, it's interesting, very tricky,
nice up and down moves. They've done a good job, and
the newness of the circuit makes it a bit difficult.
Coming off line a little bit, there are all the little
stones, sharp edges of the tarmac which we brush away
and that obviously goes next to the line and any time
you go a bit off-line you see all the cars going wide
or into a spin or whatever.
Juan Pablo Montoya:
I think they were really good. I think they did a
fantastic job here. It's great to come to the Middle
East. It's been a very good experience for me so far,
the car thing seems to have worked really well. It's
nice. It's a pretty challenging track, you know, up
and down and quite demanding. It's nice.
Christian Klien:
I think I like the circuit quite a lot, it's good.
I think they've done a fantastic job in a short time,
and it's good fun to drive here. It's quite a challenging
circuit and obviously it goes up and down. It's quite
hard on brakes. It was good for me and a good first
session.
Giorgio Pantano:
I think it's pretty much the same as what they say.
It's very good, it's wonderful here and the only problem
that we have is that off the line it's quite slippery
at the moment, but that's the only problem.
Question:
Giorgio, today, you were fastest Italian and fastest
team on Bridgestones after Ferrari. Was that slightly
reflected by the fact that this is a circuit that
everybody has had to learn, not just the newcomers?
Giorgio Pantano:
Yeah. It's helped me a little bit, but I think we've
worked quite hard to understand what was the problem
in the last two races. We found quite a good balance
with the car. I also I have to say thanks to Bridgestone,
they've come with good tyres, but the team has also
worked quite hard to make the car's balance better.
My feeling is also improving more and more with the
car.
Question:
What about Formula One as a whole, what surprises
have you had?
Giorgio Pantano:
To be honest, I think it's more about the press, interviews,
TV - that's quite impressive. That was my first impression
about Formula One, that there's a lot of press interviews,
television, all this stuff.
Question:
Christian, what has surprised you about Formula One?
Christian Klien:
Obviously, driving the cars is a bit different to
Formula Three or some other categories, but the biggest
thing I think is working with the team, with the engineers.
You have so many people around you. You have to work
with them, to motivate them and work closely with
them. I think that's the biggest thing for me. For
sure, there's quite a lot of work with the press and
media, but that's part of the job and it's okay.
Question:
What about today? There's obviously been a tremendous
lap from you [to take fifth place] today?
Christian Klien:
Yes, it was a really good day today. The circuit was
new for everybody. For sure, it's been difficult in
the last two races learning the circuit and I could
only drive the circuit on Playstation. But this is
new for everyone and it's good for new drivers and
I think the track looks quite good. The team did a
fantastic job, as we saw in Malaysia with Mark Webber,
and I think it's moving forward.
Question:
Juan Pablo, first of all, looking back at Malaysia,
was it a bit of a disappointment; I know you were
second...
Juan Pablo Montoya:
I think it was really good, you know - from where
I was in the first race, where we weren't even close
to Ferrari, to having a competitive car, where we
did the fastest lap of the race and everything. The
tyres could have been a bit more consistent, that
would have helped a little bit, but Michelin came
back quite strongly, and here it looks quite close.
Normally on a Friday, we're miles off, but I'm within
a thousandth of Rubens. It's fantastic. I think it's
a good start for the weekend and we'll see what happens
during the weekend. The tyres will get better. I'm
happy with the car. I'm very pleased with the way
we're progressing with the car. Since we've arrived,
we've changed little on the car. We've a very good
balance here.
Question:
Have you had any tyre worries at all?
Juan Pablo Montoya:
We haven't really. We have had very little problems
with my car, or with Williams in general. My car was
very good. It's been very consistent, both tyres that
we've run have been very consistent.
Question:
Have you any theory where these punctures could be
coming from?
Juan Pablo Montoya:
People going off, probably...
Question:
Michael, you had a certain hand in this circuit. How
much did you change, how did it come about?
Michael Schumacher:
I think you have to put it right. At certain stages,
they do come and ask whether there are any sorts of
problems or advice on how to create overtaking opportunities,
and that is the area I looked into. I guess I wasn't
the only driver to do so. The input was to take care
of some of the run-off areas and to create a slowish
corner into a long straight into a slowish corner,
which we have with the final corner to the first corner,
to allow us to have overtaking possibilities.
Question:
And do you think there are quite a few overtaking
opportunities here?
Michael Schumacher:
I am not sure there is a lot. There is probably specifically
this one, and there might be another one up to turn
four, although that is a bit more tricky because of
being off line. But, over the weekend, that may create
itself into an opportunity.
Question:
From an outside point of view, it doesn't look very
exciting, but it is obviously very challenging. Can
you tell us about that?
Michael Schumacher:
For us, we are sitting very low and, very often, the
camera never transmits the speed we are doing - but,
for us, you do feel it quite a bit. There are two
interesting chicanes - well, high speed corners -
where you don't actually see where you are going.
There are some corners which you brake into that are
very tricky, very easy to make mistakes. It is exciting
for us because where we sit is obviously much lower.
Question:
Kimi, obviously you have had a rotten start to the
season. How is your morale? How do you feel?
Kimi Raikkonen:
Of course, it is not nice. It is not nice for me or
for any of the team, but that's racing. Of course,
we would like to be in a better position than we now
are, but everyone is pushing hard and trying to improve
it. It is always taking a little while before you
get there, it doesn't happen over two weeks and also
I haven't had the best luck yet, but that is the way
it is.
Question:
Are there still worries for the rest of the weekend?
Kimi Raikkonen:
I don't know really. I think today we had a fuel leak
in the engine that caused a fire inside the engine
and then the engine stopped. We don't really know
if we have to change the engine or not yet, we will
see.
Question:
What about the problems with the tyres – David [Coulthard]
had a problem – do you agree that it is the stones?
Kimi Raikkonen:
Maybe because there was another car also on the same
corner, one of the BARs, so maybe there are some sharp
things on the kerb or somewhere. It seems to damage
the tyre, but there are only parts where it is a problem
for the tyres, so they go around the circuit and have
a little look.
Question:
Is that something you will be asking for?
Michael Schumacher:
Yep
Question:
Will you personally?
Michael Schumacher:
Well, it's done already, I mean. It is more of an
issue when you see what happened. It doesn't need
to be requested I believe.
Question:
Some of the other drivers are talking about the dust
on the outside of the track. When you get off the
track completely, there are huge plumes of dust coming
up. If that comes onto the track, it can be slippery.
Does something need to be done about that?
Michael Schumacher:
I haven't seen a car that has a brush on the front
of it to push the dust onto the circuit! I don't worry
too much about that.
Question:
Does the dust actually affect the handling of the
car? Do you pick it up on the tyres?
Michael Schumacher:
I think you are mixing up things. I mean, as we were
talking before, it sprays the dust up big time if
you go off, really out in the run-off areas, but,
if you just go off line, yeah, there is a bit of sand,
there are a few stones like we have in other circuits.
It is a little bit more, because of the circumstance
and the first-time usage. There are these two levels,
but neither will cause an issue and, anyway, there
is nothing we can do about it. Just keep cleaning,
they have the right equipment to do so, and then we
have to see how it develops.
Question:
Christian, how much has Mark [Webber] helped you in
these first few races and do you run different set-ups?
Christian Klien:
No, absolutely not, we are racing. I mean, a slightly
different set-up, that's for sure, but the car is
the same. I think Mark is one of the best drivers
in Formula One, that's for sure, and he also has lots
of experience. It was my first two races and that
is why I think there was such a big gap but, for sure,
I can learn a lot off him because he is a good driver
and a very friendly person to work with. Today, we
had quite a good practice session. I think it was
the same for everyone and we did a good job.
Question:
Can I put the same question to Giorgio?
Giorgio Pantano:
I have to say, the first two races we had a different
set-up me and him [Nick Heidfeld], but I think we
need to understand that me and Christian have just
turned up in Formula One. There is nothing you can
compare these cars to - Formula Three cars, F3000
cars, it is completely different - and we have two
new tracks. I think we came here and, for everybody,
it is new, so I think we can improve a little bit.
We need more feeling with the car, to understand the
car more, and then I think we will be close to our
team-mates, because Webber and Nick are quite good
drivers.
Question:
Juan Pablo, from what we have seen, do you think it
can be a race between Ferrari and Williams this weekend?
Juan Pablo Montoya:
Well, you have got to say that a lot of Michelin teams
have been quite strong here – BAR have been quite
strong, McLaren have been strong too – so we will
see. We have to see what happens when we get to race
day. I am very pleased, being a Friday, with the performance
of the tyre because as you know Friday is the worst
day for us and it just gets better. So, if we are
quick today, then it should be a good weekend for
us. |
