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

Drivers: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren), Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault), Fernando Alonso (Renault)

Press conference:

Q:
Kimi, how does that win rate for you?

Kimi Raikkonen:
I think it is one of the best for sure, maybe the best one, because I really had to fight for it and after all the problems we had this weekend, it was very nice.

Q:
It certainly looked fantastic from outside, what was it like inside?

KR:
Yeah, there was quite a lot happening during the race all the time. There was traffic and I was not really able to run at my own speed, in the clean air, only at the end. It was exciting with some nice overtaking and it is always nice when you can fight like this.

Q:
You and Fernando had fantastic opening laps, were you a little bit more held up than Fernando?

KR:
Actually I went a little bit straight in the last chicane, I tried to overtake in some places and then the safety car came out. Montoya touched me a bit at the rear tyre, so I got sideways and lost a place from him but apart from that it was pretty okay.

Q:
And behind Michael as well.

KR:
Yeah, after the pit-stop I was able to get past him. He made a little mistake and I was quicker than him on the main straight but I had a little bit too short seventh gear, so I was hitting the limiter.

Q:
And then the vital later second stop got you past Webber and Button.

KR:
Yeah, I was quicker than them but I was just closing up and I was not able to get a good run on them and I knew they were going to stop before me, so I had two laps to really push and try to gain time. I was able to pull a little bit away from them and then after the last pit stop I saw that he was not so far away and there were seven laps to go, so I went as quickly as I could and luckily I caught him on the last lap and got past him.

Q:
Giancarlo, you must be very disappointed.

Giancarlo Fisichella:
Yeah, I was the leader of the race until the last lap and losing the first place is not great. Kimi was flying, he was much quicker than me, and he was especially much quicker than me on the straight, maybe even because he had much better traction out of the hairpin and the chicane. I am a little bit disappointed but I did my best, I was pushing all through the race and in a way, it is a good day for us because we are back on top of the Constructors' Championship.

Q:
You built up a lead of 19 seconds after the middle stint and to have lost that must have been devastating, but did you have any major problems?

GF:
I was struggling a little bit with the rear end in the slow speed corners and with traction. The car balance in the high speed corners wasn't too bad. He was just quicker than us, as usual, in the last (few races), after the first part of the season, it has been like that. What can I do?

Q:
Fernando, a fantastic first lap, and you had to overtake Michael Schumacher twice.

Fernando Alonso:
Yeah, all the traffic I had in front of me I overtook twice, once on the track and then because I stopped they overtook me again. So I probably lost the race there, in the traffic. My car was really good today; for the first time in a long time I felt quicker than the McLarens today but we didn't have the opportunity to beat them. But it's okay; starting 16th I think all the plans we had was to get into the points, top six, top seven, so to be on the podium again is a nice surprise. It's my 14th podium of the season, so I hope to do the 15th in China and, if I can win, even better.

Q:
It looked as though it was very, very close with Mark Webber.

FA:
It was very close. I think I tried to overtake him twice, but I wasn't really much faster than him, so I needed a little mistake from him if I had the opportunity. He made a little mistake at the chicane, so I went for it. I think it was impossible to overtake at the outside because I tried two or three times with Michael. I learned the lesson, so I really went for the inside but there was only a little grass, there was nothing left of the asphalt, so it was a great move. That one and the other one, on Michael, around the outside of 130R were the nicest moments of the race.

Questions from the floor:

Q: (Sal Zanca - AP)
Kimi, what do you think about, when you're roaring down the straight, inches apart, entering that final lap?

KR:
Well, I wanted to get past him. I was thinking which way I should go. Of course, at the inside, it is easier to overtake, but Fisichella went on the inside, so I didn't have much choice but to go around the outside and try to go around him and luckily enough I made it, so I was very happy.

Q:
Same question to Giancarlo, what did you think?

GF:
He was just quicker than me in the straight. I had already seen him catching me in the middle of the straight and going on the left side. I could already see the possibility of losing the first position. I did my best but unfortunately I always try to keep my position, but I could see there was the possibility of a collision.

Q: (Michael Schmidt - Auto Motor und Sport)
Fernando and Kimi, how do you explain that all of a sudden it was possible to overtake so many cars, especially on a circuit like Suzuka, where people say it's impossible?

KR:
I think the nature of the circuit seems to somehow suit this year better than other years. There was quite a big speed difference with some cars on the straight and I think the quick left hander is now easier so you can follow (another car) through, going flat behind people and it makes it easier to try and overtake into the chicane and onto the main straight. I think that change to the circuit has definitely made it easier to overtake here.

FA:
Yeah, I don't know why this year was a little bit easier also to follow people in the first sector where it's usually really difficult. And 130R is easily flat, even if you follow a car that is just in front of you, so in the chicane it is a good opportunity.

Q: (Heikki Kulta - Turun Sanomat)
Kimi, have you ever been as happy as you are now after a race and how long do you think you're able to maintain the feeling?

KR:
I don't know how long, this evening for sure. I am very happy, of course, for the win. Maybe it makes me happier than normal because I really needed to fight for it so maybe the feeling is stronger now because when you achieve something, when you really fight for it, it's nicer than driving a whole race on your own in front.
Q: (Andrea Cremonesi - La Gazzetta dello Sport)
Giancarlo, could you tell us what the people on the pit wall told you during the last few laps, and don't you feel that during the first part of the race you were maybe too conservative?

GF:
I was talking with the team and the first part I was doing my pace. Then they told me to push a little bit more and I was doing that. I did my best, I told you I was always pushing, but after the middle of the race I lost rear grip and it was a bit slow in the slow chicanes and the low speed corners and even under traction.

Q:
Giancarlo, do you think that the six laps behind the safety car affected the result of the race?

GF:
Yes, that's another reason for sure. It's another reason because there was a possibility to go away a bit more compared with all the people struggling behind other slow cars, but anyway, that is racing.