Turkish GP - Post-race press conference - Pt.2

Questions from the floor.

Q: (Bob McKenzie - The Daily Express).
Mark, you might not have seen it because you were busy driving but as Sebastian walked away from the car, on a couple of occasions, he gave the global sign for mental. Do you think you were in any way responsible for what happened?

Mark Webber:
No.

Q: (Bob McKenzie - The Daily Express).
What do you think about his idea of the mental stuff?

MW:
It's when the adrenalin's flowing.

Q: (Bob McKenzie - The Daily Express).
Was it entirely his fault then?

MW:
Oh, if I wasn't there, there wouldn't have been contact obviously, but we were there together and it wasn't the easiest thing to predict what he would do in that split second. Unfortunately there was contact.

Q: (Bob McKenzie - The Daily Express).
Was he just trying to make room for himself?

MW:
Absolutely, yeah.

Q: (Bob McKenzie - The Daily Express).
But wrongly.

MW:
Aah, pretty quick.

Q: (Tony Dodgins - Tony Dodgins Associates).
Mark, you managed to keep the F-duct cars behind you for 40 laps. I know you told us we've got to dig a bit more but were you slower on that lap that Seb caught you, or not?

MW:
I wasn't too slow, no.

Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association).
Jenson and Lewis, after your little duel on lap 49/50, was there any comment over the team radio from Martin (Whitmarsh) or the guys to cool it, bearing in mind what they'd just seen a few laps earlier with the Red Bulls?

Lewis Hamilton:
For me, no, but I'm sure they were biting their nails all the time. But no, Martin didn't speak to me or my engineer. They just asked me to look after the fuel, but they'd been telling me that for a good ten laps or so before that. I was just asked to keep doing the same thing, but I'm sure it raised a few hairs when we were battling.

Q: (Tom Cary - The Daily Telegraph).
Lewis, you said were surprised to see Jenson suddenly up behind you. When you were told to conserve fuel, you both were told to conserve fuel, did you take that as an instruction not to overtake? Did you see that at all...?

LH:
We don't have instructions. We're racing. For me it was just... the communication wasn't clear for me. When they suggested 'save this much fuel' it was not easy to save that much fuel unless I went particularly slowly. I tried to reach that target and in doing so, Jenson was all of a sudden... he just appeared from nowhere and he was up my tail and then there was nothing I could do. I just had to try and defend the best way I could. He did a great move down the outside. Then I was able to fortunately get back on him and again hopefully a fair move down into turn one.

Q: (Juha P??talo - Financial Times Germany).
Mark, when you saw Sebastian at your side and a little bit in front of you on the inside, what was your thinking? What did you think would happen?

MW:
Umm. I obviously wasn't totally happy with the situation because obviously he was coming down the inside, and I thought that at that stage I was pretty much not giving the lead up but it was pretty much his corner, well, not his corner but his situation because he was on the inside, but I just stayed on the inside, tight, to make sure that he was still staying on the dirty stuff and then on the run over the crest, obviously after the crest, he started to come back my way and that's when we touched.

Q: (Edd Straw - Autosport).
Mark, given what happened, is there an argument for Red Bull having a policy of not racing after the first corner?

MW:
I don't think that would be great. Obviously for everyone, you guys, people watching, it sounds like the McLarens had a good scrap. When, week-in, week-out, you've got guys that are pretty even and there are different parts of the race where people are stronger and weaker, yeah, you can say 'just hold formation to the end'. That would have probably been something which, in hindsight, with 20-20 vision, we would have both been up there, obviously, but in the end it didn't turn out. If they wanted to swap the positions or there was a fight continuing and the way it turned out wasn't great.

Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport).
Mark, when Sebastian appeared on the left hand side of you, did he first lose the car and then contact you or did you first have contact with the tyres and then you lost the car?

MW:
Oh, he lost the car when he hit me.

Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport).
So before he hit you, he lost the car?

MW:
No.

Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport).
It didn't come out clearly when Sebastian was there. He said he lost the car because he was on the inside and then he hit you but did you see it?

MW:
He was down the inside, I was going towards the corner in the middle of the track and then he came to the right and then obviously when we made contact he obviously had a puncture or something and he lost the car.

Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport).
And Lewis, you were sitting in the first row, how did you see it?

LH:
It was great to watch, it was like an action movie in HD or 3D; it was fantastic. It was right ahead of me. No, I got the best view of it obviously but it's the last thing you want to see and fortunately Sebastian is safe but I just saw Sebastian go up the inside and Mark held his line. I don't think he really had much room to move to the right and I don't think there was necessarily a reason for Sebastian to try to move to the right. I think it was unfortunate for them but all I can say is that it was fortunate for us because we've been working hard all year. I think myself and Jenson have deserved to be on the front row for some time and so it was good today.

Q: (Adam Hay-Nicholls - Metro).
Mark, did you know if Seb ignored an order to save fuel?

MW:
No, wouldn't have a clue, mate.

Q: (Emre Guler - Auto Guide Turkey).
In previous years, most drivers were complaining about dust problems at Istanbul Park. Was there a problem this year? Also, I want to learn of your opinions of the Istanbul Park this year.

LH:
There was a lot of sand, wasn't there, a lot of dust. When I was behind cars... I've gone through two tear-offs and more. There was quite a lot of debris - not debris, mostly stuff from the tyres, but there definitely seemed to be a little bit of dust off-line but I don't think it caused any problems. You are still able to overtake, it's not too slippery. And the track is great, clearly it's one of the best tracks we have because it enables you to overtake. You've got two great straights which you really do need in Formula One to capitalise on your gains elsewhere. I personally really like it, I think it's a nice track to drive, I've always enjoyed it here. I think I've started second on the grid quite a few times and so it's fine and nice to finally get a win here.

MW:
Just one thing; during the drivers' parade today, all the drivers were really happy to see quite a few spectators here. We know it's not easy for the Turkish people to come and attend the race because it's pretty expensive. It was really good to see the crowd out there trying to enjoy the race. Obviously it wasn't the best day for myself but I think the race was quite good and I'm really happy that people could come and watch us here in Istanbul.

LH:
We want to see more people here now, that's for sure.

MW:
Yeah, cheaper prices, so that they can come and watch.

Q: (Frederic Ferret - L'Equipe).
Mark, what were your thoughts between getting back on the track and the finishing line? And have you thought of Japan 2007, behind the safety car and Lewis? There was something between Vettel and you behind the safety car in Japan.

MW:
Ah, Fuji. Yeah, that was different, obviously. That was well-documented at the time. We crashed into each other. No, I didn't think of Fuji at all. I was obviously thinking, during the last part of the race, how unfortunate it was that both of us made contact.

Q: (Tony Dodgins - Tony Dodgins Associates).
Jenson, the moment that you got past Lewis seemed to coincide with a bit of a shower. Was that a factor?

Jenson Button:
I don't know. It didn't feel like that there was less grip. To me it felt very similar. Lewis got a bad run out of (turn) eight for whatever reason and that's where the time difference was and I was able to catch him on the back straight into (turn) twelve. But no, I don't think the weather made any difference really, it wasn't raining enough. We had a lot of warnings that it was going to rain, but it was never enough really.

Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo).
Mark, was your strategy to keep Vettel inside, not to make him brake before and you keep your position, even if you brake late, he would go straight?

MW:
It wasn't my plan to get him on the inside but he got there and I thought OK, I would just stay in the middle, as straight as I can, to make his line as tight as possible into the next corner obviously. And once we got to the braking point, he was obviously in a very strong position, but before we got there he came across to the right and I couldn't react fast enough, because I wasn't at all expecting that at that point, and that's why it happened so fast and there was contact. Of course in Seb's car, it obviously feels very bad for him that I've turned left into him, but I'm pretty confident that there was some drift from his way and then it was a fucking disaster. So you have the line.

Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto, Motor und Sport).
Lewis, what happened at the pit stop because Sebastian was able to jump you. Was there any problem?

LH:
I don't know, I have to...

MW:
We put fuel in, I think, at the pit stop.

LH:
It seemed to be quite a...

MW:
My guys weren't quick and I thought 'Lewis's guys are also having a bit of a break.'

LH:
I was ready to go, the front tyres got on, the rear tyres they seemed to have a problem with, I think, the right rear or something and then seemed to be very slow to get on. I did actually move because I anticipated the rear going down but then I had to pull the clutch back in and I saw Mark pull away and so I lost quite a bit. Considering how close I came in right behind Mark, I came out a long way behind him and unfortunately lost ground to Sebastian. But they obviously did a great job with their strategy and it just made it twice as hard to win the race from that point but that's the way it goes.