Spanish GP - Thursday press conference - Pt.1

Drivers: Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), Nico Hulkenberg (Force India), Pedro de la Rosa (HRT), Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).

Press conference.

Q:
Kamui, so far this season a couple of good races and a couple not so good. What's been the difference between them?

Kamui Kobayashi:
Of course it's definitely the car. We had quite good performance at the start, quite a good start to the season. Unfortunately, we also some races where the strategy was not really going well. It's not let's a bad thing for my season. I had a great start but I think we have to work hard especially on the long runs.

Q:
Yesterday, Fernando talked about drivers having more respect for one another. Do you think that's the case? Should drivers leave more space for each other?

Kamui Kobayashi:
Maybe. I don't know. It's always difficult to say.

Q:
You're quite an aggressive overtaker.

Kamui Kobayashi:
Yeah, but for me I'm doing something quite normal. It's not special. I'm just doing my job. Maybe it looks aggressive but I never crash with anyone. I never crash and stop the car. There may be contact but it's always quite OK. Maybe it looks aggressive but it's not aggressive in fact.

Q:
And of course, you've been on the receiving end as we remember from Spa last year.

Kamui Kobayashi:
Spa last year? Where? Ah, with Lewis, you mean? That's what I mean that was just an accident you know. I didn't expect both cars to make contact because there was no point. I didn't expect Lewis to come across and I just stayed on my line. It was just sudden, you know. There was no way to avoid that. That was something special though, it's not really a racing accident and not aggressive stuff from me, so...

Q:
Nico, on paper you've been beaten by your team-mate so far this year. How are you feeling about it?

Nico Hulkenberg:
Well, the first four races have been quite tough to be honest. I would have liked to take more than two points out of the first four races. We have been quite unfortunate in some races, such as Melbourne, where we had a first-corner incident and there was very little I could do and then a clutch failure issues in Bahrain. These were two races where we potentially could have finished in the points. But I'm looking forward, I'm bedding in well with the team. I think the team is doing a good job in putting everything together and if we get a bit more luck then I think it will be good.

Q:
How do you feel about team development? Are the developments coming at a reasonable rate as far as you're concerned?

Nico Hulkenberg:
Yes, definitely. We bring some new parts, probably like every other team, here and we have to wait and see where the new parts put us but obviously we're hoping it's a step forward. I think it is a step forward but just how big a step we'll see over the next two days.

Q:
Pedro, we see a new team that has recently moved to new premises and taken on a lot of new staff. What sort of role do you see yourself playing in the development of Hispania Racing Team?

Pedro de la Rosa:
As you've said, everything is new. We're establishing ourselves; restructuring the team; we are growing. But really I'm not playing any different role than any other race driver would do. I'm part of the team; I'm a race driver; I'm experienced. If they need my advice on anything, I am there. But I'm not playing any special role other than driving as fast as I can and giving good feedback about the car.

Q:
You spent so long at McLaren are you not trying to put some of those influences on the team?

Pedro de la Rosa:
Gradually I will. That's the aim and that's what I'm here for as well. But so far the team has been extremely busy trying to move into our new premises in Madrid, establish a structure, a 'basement' as I say, and after that we will grow gradually and that's when I think my input will be, if possible, more beneficial. But so far the objective has been clear. We have to establish ourselves, we have to put he ground for building more floors on top of us but so far I've been very discreet and not in a very important position.

Q:
And where do hope the team will be at the end of the year?

Pedro de la Rosa:
I have no idea really. We are improving race by race. We have made the car a lot quicker. Don't forget at the first grand prix we did not qualify and gradually we have been closing the gap to pole position. That's what we have to aim for: race by race, closing the gap, making sure that our car is a little bit quicker than it was at the previous grand prix. After that, at the end of the year, we will see. We don't have to set ourselves any targets other than making the team more competitive race by race.

Q:
Kimi, you were plainly a little frustrated that you could have won at Bahrain but didn't. Is that a true appraisal of your feelings about Bahrain?

Kimi Raikkonen:
Yeah, I think once you get so close, you're not happy with second. If you're 20 seconds behind then it doesn't really matter but we had a chance but at least for the team it was a good weekend.

Q:
You're a two-time winner here, both from pole position. Do you think a win is possible here? You've said you team will be winners at some stage.

Kimi Raikkonen:
Well, the rules are different, so you don't have to be on pole now to win. We'll try. I don't know how it will go. It's very difficult to say before the weekend starts. The teams are very close. So if everything goes smoothly then we can be up there. But small difficulties in some areas and you're suddenly much further back. We try to do everything right and then see what happens.

Q:
You didn't test at Mugello as apparently the team hadn't brought major modification, but for this race have you at least brought modifications that will at least see you maintain where you were at the opening rounds?

Kimi Raikkonen:
We should have some new parts and we'll see what happens.

Q:
Fernando, another winner here in 2006. How did you feel the Ferrari was in testing? Did you feel it was a lot different?

Fernando Alonso:
No, not really. We didn't have any big improvements in the car, so what we tested were different set-ups and things we missed from winter testing. It's been quite difficult for us with a lot of problems on the car and not many laps. The Mugello test was to complete what we had left from winter but in terms of improvements, we had minimum changes on the car so it felt the same?

Q:
Did that set-up research, as it were, make you feel more comfortable with the car, more competitive?

Fernando Alonso:
Well, we'll see. Obviously we had some ideas in terms of setup and some different possibilities that we were not introducing in the first four races because we didn't have the opportunity to test them. So, it was good in Mugello: some of them were positive; some of them were negative so it's good to know. As much information as you have is better preparation for the next grand prix. Obviously we arrive more prepared now than how we arrived in Australia with only three tests in the winter. But to make the car faster I think in terms of setup you cannot find much. If you want to be running at the front it's more aerodynamic parts and updates in the car. Hopefully they come but we need to wait.

Q:
You know this circuit pretty well, you had a very good start to the race last year - do you think we're going to see more overtaking on the circuit now, what with more KERS and a longer DRS as well?

Fernando Alonso:
I think it will be similar to last year, to be honest. I saw some numbers of previous races here. On average like four or five overtaking manoeuvres in the last nine years and last year there were 57 - so it was a big change. The race this year will be similar to last year because of the degradation, the DRS and the KERS. With all the possibilities that we have now, as we had last year, for sure we will see some more overtaking. This changes also a little bit the philosophy of this circuit. As Kimi said, pole position was 60 per cent of the victories, now pole position is obviously the best starting position but it's not crucial anymore because with this year's tyres it's less important.

Q:
Sebastian, you broke the mould last year by winning from second on the grid, where you've started for the last three years but you won last year from there. This is such a performance track, is this a track where you're really looking for an indicator for the rest of the first half of the season? If you're competitive here you will be elsewhere?

Sebastian Vettel:
Well, I think if you are competitive here I think it means that you have been previously. It's a track that we usually know quite a lot from winter testing, we have some data to compare to, so it's very familiar. But it doesn't mean if you are competitive here you are competitive everywhere. Equally, if you are not competitive here it doesn't mean you will never be competitive. I think it's similar to other tracks. Really, if you think which sector you're talking about, which speed range of the cars. I think you have sectors on every track where you could get an indication. As I said, I think it's the fact that we know a lot about this track, we have a lot of data to compare against, to see if we did a step forward compared to the winter and how big the step was. Surely then you have to consider different temperatures: it's a different time of year so it's also difficult to compare black and white - but yeah as a rule of thumb probably this circuit does give you an idea because simply you have all the corners you find somewhere else, you have tight chicanes like in the last sector, hard braking for the hairpin, fast corners like in the first sector. You have a bit of everything.

Q:
And yet everyone has been here, everyone knows exactly what sort of setup they would require. Is it perhaps one of the toughest races in that respect?

Sebastian Vettel:
Yeah it is. But as I said as well, you race here in May, it's quite different if you look at the temperatures compared to February or March, so yeah, it does have a big change on the setup, so whatever you might have found out over the winter in testing, it might not work in the same way or the same style it did during testing. Also, you need to consider that the cars you launch are quite different to the cars you race at the first race, and then, you know, you race around May or June later in the season. So, yeah, it's a bit wishy-washy because of that - but overall it's a track we know fairly well from a driving point of view as we've done a lot of laps here. We should know our way around here.