Thursday press conference - US Grand Prix - Pt.1.

Drivers: Fernando Alonso (Renault), Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren), Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) and Scott Speed (Red Bull).

Press conference.

Q:
Juan Pablo, memories of Indianapolis, a nice place for you to come?

Juan Pablo Montoya:
Yeah, it's a nice race track to come to, it's a bit different to any other track, there's the big compromise between the infield and turn one. It's pretty interesting. The car should be really quick around here as well, so I'm looking forward to that.

Q:
The performance in Montreal must have been very encouraging.

JPM:
Yeah, but the Renault was quite strong as well so we thought the race with them was going to be quite tight but I think it was going to be a good race to the end.

Q:
Give us your take on the timescale of what happened in Canada, when the safety car came out etc etc?

JPM:
The safety car came out... my side of the thing was that we were discussing what pace to do, because we had around a 30-odd second lead and they said 'we're backing off both cars', to look after the cars because the Renaults were out. At the same time that they were talking the safety car came out and when they noticed it, it was too late (to come into the pits).

Then they decided to pit me on the next lap and they said normal thing, came out of the pits, I saw the red light and as I approached it the blue light came on and I radioed through and said 'do I stop or not?' and I don't think they heard me. At one point, when the blue light came on, I thought maybe the red was a mistake because it shouldn't have come on, and I decided to go through it. It was my mistake, in a way, but I thought they would give me a drive-through penalty or something, I thought initially they might just ask me to go to the back of the line or something, but then after that, for some reason, they decided to get me out of the race. I think it was very harsh to be honest, and unfair. But that's what it is.

Q:
So you've got over it now?

JPM:
I'm over it. It's been a tough season for me, I've been very unlucky. And this thing with the FIA hasn't helped.

Q:
Scott, you've had a pretty tough schedule over the last eight days or so, prior to coming here; tell us about it?

Scott Speed:
Yeah, well, unfortunately, in the GP2, the championship I'm running in and concentrating on this year, we've had very limited test days and the last two official days were in between Montreal and here so I had to fly back and drive on Tuesday which was not so productive because it rained. I got back last night. Doing the travel.

Q:
Fairly fresh? Feeling okay?

SS:
Yeah, yeah. It's the training that you do in the off-season which prepares you for this kind of schedule because it's to be expected.
Q:
How did you find driving a Formula One car, how did you find your first Grand Prix participation?

SS:
Okay, I think all the media around is one of the biggest differences. The day goes by a lot quicker. The car itself is quite nice to drive, it's obviously got a lot more aerodynamic performance. Yeah, it's quite pleasurable.

Q:
Do you find it difficult to drive, a big difference from GP2?

SS:
Yeah, it's quite a big difference from anything. It's just that aerodynamic performance, the driving style is a bit different. But once you get used to it, it's not so bad.

Q:
You mentioned the media a moment ago; you're very important for Formula One, you're very important for the United States as well. Is that a lot of pressure?

SS:
Yeah, I don't think there is so much pressure at this moment. When you're driving on Fridays you're not really competing with anything and you're not compared with anybody so I think the pressure would be a lot more when you get into qualifying and the race.

Q:
Michael, I know you've just had a great press conference outside, a great reception as well, but there was one question you didn't answer: chicken or beef? Did you not hear that?

Michael Schumacher:
I don't know the meaning of it.

Q:
I suppose it's whether you prefer chicken or beef.

MS:
Think so?

Q:
Yeah. (Laughter)

MS:
I like beef if that's it.

Q:
You've also had a great record here, three pole positions, three wins. That must be encouraging for you, especially with the performance last week.

MS:
You have to be pretty honest about what happened last week. I would have been fifth in normal circumstances and not second as I finished. So at the end of the day, it didn't show off very much last week but we have had some very good performances through the year like at Imola, like in Monte Carlo in the race. So it depends on where we are at this circuit whether we're sort of more Imola like or whether we're more whatever, Barcelona or other races.

Q:
Now, your brother has been quoted in Bild as saying that you will retire, you are not having as much fun as you did last year and for that reason you will retire soon. What's your reply to that?

MS:
I don't know how he comes up with that. I speak with him as much as I do with you, and tell him how much I enjoy it actually. Even though I'm not winning, you can enjoy it. You don't need always to win to be happy. The race last week, the race in Monaco, there were plenty of races, Imola, that were great fun. So I'm not lacking fun, neither I do motivation. There are phases like this that are not so successful but we have been so successful that I think it's pretty normal. And for me, I knew it would come to go through as long - and we are, in my view - as long as you're competitive and not completely somewhere gone and you have no chance, I'm pretty happy to go through this as I'm pretty sure we make our way up to the front again and we'll be there. And honestly, I think he has a couple of other things to think about and speak about. (Laughs)

Q:
Fernando, your feelings after the Canadian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso:
The first moment you are little bit sad because it's the first retirement of the year. But these things happen in motor racing. After that, I think it was nice to have only one - three days off and come back to the next race because you forget very quickly and we can prepare this Indianapolis race a little bit more strongly.
Q:
But was the performance of McLaren and to some extent Ferrari a bit worrying as well there?

FA:
The McLaren, yes. I think after the first pit stop of the Ferrari, we knew that we were in good shape with them and the McLaren were the big opponents there. And yeah, obviously we pushed very hard in the race, especially when Giancarlo retired. The team told me that I should go quicker, to have a nice gap to Juan Pablo because probably in the second stop they were longer than us. So this pressure was maybe too much.

Q:
What about the fact that you've never actually finished at this circuit before, does that worry you?

FA:
Yeah, a lot. Always in Indianapolis I never finish the race. So I hope this year to break this thing and we have fantastic car this season and we were able to fight for the podium in all the races, in fact. And to finish here on the podium or to finish the race for me will be a big, big pressure.