Red Bull adopt 'Superman' theme

Monaco GP - Red Bull - Preview
Red Bull is hoping that a red cape and Kryptonite can help its F1 team find form in Monaco this weekend. The energy drink-owned squad, formerly racing in the Jaguar/Ford guise, will continue the recent tradition of promoting a new movie in the famous Principality.
Last year, a Star Wars theme was adopted, which saw mechanics dressed as Storm Troopers while the car was dressed in a special livery.

In 2006, new Hollywood blockbuster 'Superman Returns' will get the Red Bull treatment, with the team currently putting the final touches on a spectacular adaptation to its huge motor home, which is floating in the Monte Carlo harbour.

The Energy Station's front entrance now resembles the headquarters of Clark Kent's 'Daily Planet' building.

Red Bull and Jaguar also promoted the 'Terminator 3' and 'Ocean's Twelve' movies.

Kevin Spacey, who acts in the Superman remake, is tipped to attend the race as a Red Bull guest.

Back on track, the team is chasing its first point since round three in Australia. Last time out in Spain, Christian Klien finished 13th with David Coulthard 15th. Tonio Liuzzi is the sister Toro Rosso camp finished in 14th splitting the two Red Bull regulars.

Wednesday FIA press conference, part I

Five drivers meet the press
First part of today’s FIA press conference ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix with Rubens Barrichello (Honda), David Coulthard (Red Bull), Juan Pablo Montoya (McLaren), Jarno Trulli (Toyota), Alexander Wurz (Williams).
Alex, this is very much your home race; what’s it like for you and your family when the race comes to town?
Alexander WURZ: I’ve been here for nine years, I live here now with my family. My kid is going to school above us here. I brought him there this morning, then went down to the race team. It’s kind of a bit strange. I remember four years ago picking him up from hospital when he was born on race day so I have quite some memories. But at the end of the day, when you live here and the race is coming here, it’s actually a pain in the butt because you have no more parking because the guardrails are being built up, it confuses the traffic, everyone gets a bit more stressed, hectic, the prices go up in the restaurants so I prefer the calmer time of December and January.

It’s going to get more hectic over the next few days; what’s it going to be like for the third drivers tomorrow?
AW: Well, the track usually starts off very slippery here in Monaco so actually we are just vacuum-cleaners for the other guys here, so they have fun on the rubbered-in circuit whereas we are sliding around a lot.
I remember from last year the first session is really slow and you have to be very aware of this. One is always really tempted to push but the circuit is getting so much quicker. Every time you come into the pits and you wait five minutes the other guys go one or two seconds quicker in the first session so that makes it a bit tricky because all the time you want to go out and be quickest, of course. But you have to be aware that the moment to set the best lap time is always at the end of the Thursday, and then it’s going be really hectic out there. I believe everyone is aware that many drivers are a bit afraid of qualifying but in my situation I don’t have that problem. I’m afraid of not having enough free track on Thursday afternoon.

What’s qualifying going to be like with the slower drivers?
AW: I’m sure all the other four guys here will tell you more about it. I wish I had the problem to have traffic in qualifying but it’s not my business at the moment. If I could sit here on Saturday and complain about traffic I would race and that would be fine for me.
Rubens, another year older, 34 yesterday, it’s always Monaco Grand Prix time…
Rubens BARRICHELLO: Yeah, it’s become a habit! You know when you get older, you don’t have to party any more. It’s just one more year. But I enjoyed my birthday very much, yesterday. I wasn’t working actually so it was nice to be with the family. For the first time, we made a cake. It was OK.

Qualifying seems to be going a lot better now; what about the racing?
RB: Well, in all honesty, I think Barcelona would have been a lot better. Although I saw a lot of people talking about Jenson being held up by me, I don’t think there was much truth in that. We had our pace there. He might have gone a little bit faster but it wouldn’t have changed his race. I lost five to six seconds on the way to the pits because of the (fuel) pressure, the fuel wasn’t picking up and so when I came into the pits, I still had some fuel left and I stopped, and because they didn’t know what the problem was, they kept on putting a lot of fuel in the car, and so I finished with a little bit more than what we thought and the car became heavier. The pace wasn’t there because of that. Otherwise, I think the two cars would have been close to Raikkonen’s but there was no way to finish in front of him and that’s the story. But I think Barcelona was a step forward in terms of overall pace.

What about here, with a good qualifying position?
RB: Well, qualifying is definitely good and I think the car could actually work quite well here. The problem is going to be just being on the track at the right time. Honestly, I think we should have a different qualifying (system) for here because probably five percent of us won’t say anything about qualifying, that we had a free lap, and the rest will all be (talking about) traffic, even in the last session. Probably not as much in qualifying three, but first qualifying is going to be like hell, really. You really need to give a lot of space to people on Thursday and see if they remember that on Saturday and let it go, because if somebody goes out of the pits, just thinking about life, it’s going to be quite dangerous in a way. If you’re going to go flat out up through Casino Square, from there on you can give some space.

Now the rest of you in the front row have all won this race before and I know that all of you have said afterwards what a very special victory it is. Can you just talk through how special it is to win here, and why?
David COULTHARD: I think it’s obvious to everyone who is here that this is a more challenging track because you have less room of a margin for error, and depending on the pace of your car in any particularly Grand Prix, depends on just how hard you have had to push for the entire race. I think, looking at last year’s race, Kimi was able to quite comfortable do the last stint, so he probably wasn’t under a great deal of pressure, but if you’re having to push the whole time, then you get into a sort of trance when you’re driving around here, sometimes being a little bit confused as to whether you’re driving through the barriers or round them. That’s the sort of zone you’re getting into; certainly I was! So when you come out the other side, it is such a tremendous feeling of achievement. I think every driver would, if he could pick a Grand Prix to win, he would want to win in Monaco.

Jarno TRULLI: I agree with David. This is the Grand Prix of the season: the atmosphere is nice - there are so many things. It’s got history and as David says, it’s not easy to win. It’s probably much easier to lose than win and anything can happen. Qualifying is very important, to start in front of the grid, but we’ve also seen in the past that sometimes it doesn’t help. At the end of the day, you really need to make everything work properly during the race, and try to do your best, and eventually you might win the race if you do it properly, because during the race, you can never give up, you can never slow down, you always have to be concentrated and it’s quite a long Grand Prix as well. It’s not easy because you’re not actually on a circuit, you’re on a street circuit and you don’t have any margin for mistakes, nothing, so you’re really tied up with what you’re doing and you have to make sure you do it right, all the way through the weekend. It’s nice because of the atmosphere, so many people. As an Italian as well. Italy’s just next (door), there are always a lot of supporters for Ferrari and the Italian drivers.

Juan Pablo MONTOYA: I think it’s a little bit of everything. It’s a great circuit and it’s got history. It’s Monaco, the atmosphere and it’s a challenge. What Jarno said is very true: the build-up throughout the weekend is very important and if you have the pace, it’s easier to lose the race than win it. For tradition, it’s probably the nicest race you can win.

Now Juan Pablo, you’ve been involved in some charity work today; can you tell us a bit about it?
JPM: It’s been going on for the last couple of years to be honest. We look after 2000 children already and it’s going really well. We’re promoting sports through it and today was really good news because we got $75,000 from the Steinmetz diamond helmet from last year so it’s great, it’s a really big boost for the foundation and we get a lot of support for it in Colombia too. Quite a few drivers went for the go-kart race last year and we raised quite good money from it, so it’s been going really well. My wife works a lot on it and it’s great, it’s great to give something back and for me something back to Colombia, my country, makes it very special.

The situation within the team is somewhat complex as we go through the….
JPM: Not really. I think the situation in the team is really quite good at the moment. We are all focused on doing the job we have to do, trying to make the car better. What’s happening next year? I don’t know, probably Kimi doesn’t know, probably nobody knows at the moment and I think the situation that the press is trying to create… it’s, you know, oh this and that and who is staying? Within the team it’s very good, you know. I’m focusing and I’ve been doing a lot of work the last few weeks with the test in Paul Ricard which went really well and I think we’re finding our feet a little bit. Yes, we know we need to improve in a lot of areas still but the direction is good and the spirit is good. That is the most important thing.

Money no problem for Renault

Seeking a star to replace Alonso
Renault want a top-line replacement for world champion Fernando Alonso, and are prepared to pay whatever it takes to get one, team President Alain Dassas said today in Spain.
Alonso, who won his home Spanish Grand Prix, will join rivals McLaren Mercedesnext year, leaving Renault without an established number one driver for 2007. And Dassas made it clear that the French manufacturer will stop at nothing to continue
their run of success, after earlier confirming the team's commitment to Formula One until at least 2012.

"Flavio will make proposals and selections but we are ready as Renault to do what is necessary to have a good driver," said Dassas. "We are committed for a long period of time. We have stated clearly that next year we want to have a driver who is able to give a top performance."

With only three truly front-line drivers on the Formula One grid, and one of those leaving the team at the end of the year, Renault appear to have narrowed their focus to Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher.
Both are out of contract at the end of the year, as is Renault's current Italian driver Giancarlo Fisichella, who has been told that a decision on his future will be made before the end of June.

Renault earlier confirmed that they would remain in Formula 1 until at least 2012 after signing a contract with Formula One's commercial rights holders CVC to continue in Formula One.

Speculation had mounted over the past months that Renault would leave Formula One at the end of 2007, which Dassas believed may have been a factor in Alonso's decision to leave. "I was not there half a year ago but I guess Alonso has left the team for several reasons," said Dassas.

Spanish Grand Prix press conference

With Alonso, Schumacher and Fisichella
A flawless race from Fernando Alonso saw him take his first home Grand Prix triumph in Spain while Michael Schumacher had to be satisfied with the runner-up spot ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella.

Q: Fernando, that looked like 66 perfect laps.
Fernando ALONSO: Yeah, I think we did our maximum race performance today. The tyres performed really well throughout the race. We had some doubts before the start
and everything went perfectly. As we planned, we pushed in the first stint, we were lighter than the Ferraris so we needed a gap. We found the gap quite quickly and then it could have been a defensive race from there on, but it was not the case. This time Ferrari was not coming really strongly so I was just maintaining the gap and especially in the last stint, controlling the revs and trying to finish a race that was obviously very long for me today.

Q: It certainly looked as if you were enjoying the closing laps of the race. Can you just describe to us your emotions as you took the chequered flag?
FA: During the last five or six laps, I saw that Michael was slowing down as well, not pushing any more so it was just four or five laps just cruising to the end and for sure the chequered flag finished the race and I finished everything in front of everybody here, in front of my people, my supporters. I think it was the best feeling so far in Formula One, equal to the Grand Prix of Brazil, when I won the championship.
I finished third in that race with a lot of problems, defending the third place and I didn’t enjoy it so much as I did today, when I was alone, leading the race.

Q: Michael, a very strong second place for you, splitting the Renaults. How much was it defined for you having to sit behind Giancarlo Fisichella?
Michael SCHUMACHER: The race result didn’t really have anything to do with that, because Giancarlo was going at a certain pace, which at certain moments I couldn’t match and clearly, as the weekend developed, it started very well for us and then it sort of went away from us over the weekend which we obviously have to understand and look into. But we were simply not quick enough today.

Q: Obviously he won the drag race into the first corner but you obviously carried a lot more fuel into the race, a lot more than the Renaults.
MS: Yeah, I mean if you consider the amount of fuel we carried, it would have been easy to achieve pole position yesterday but our strategy was obviously different. It worked out at the Nurburgring. Here, it would have worked out had we been quick enough, but because the speed wasn’t there it didn’t work out.
Q: Your thoughts on that second place and a good solid eight points.
MS: Yeah, absolutely, it’s eight points. You have to understand at certain moments what is possible and what is not possible. You can only try so much yourself. You have to rely on your package, and again, it didn’t work out today but there’s a long way to go until the end of the season, so as we have seen, I was probably not so happy just to gain two points in the last two races. Now I’m reasonably happy to lose only two points. It’s the way it’s going to go and we’ll have to see what happens through the year.

Q: Giancarlo, P3 for you, a very strong start to the race, leading Michael, obviously very important from a team point of view, the position you took.
Giancarlo FISICHELLA: Yes, of course. We did a great start, even better than Fernando and after the first corner, we were able to hold first and second places. We set a good pace and for the first part of the race we were a bit lighter than Ferrari but the pace was quite good. In the second stint, just after the first stint, Michael came across the circuit and just passed me at the pit stop. After that, when I was in turn three, my engineers called me to say something and I was in the middle of turn three, and I lost control of the car and I went onto the gravel and maybe I damaged the car. It wasn’t bad, the car balance was OK but the grip wasn’t great, but apart from that it’s a great result for us and as we expected, it was a tough race between us and Ferrari.

Q: Fernando, returning to you, you said yesterday that you didn’t think 66 laps were going to be enough for you to enjoy but you have conceded that it seemed like a long race towards the end. Again, just talk us through those few emotional moments for you.
FA: It’s true that to race here and to race in front of an all blue grandstand is a different feeling compared to all the other races and it’s true that 66 laps is not enough probably to enjoy all the race but when you are leading with ten seconds or whatever I think you want to finish the race, already, and celebrate victory if you can. It was a fantastic day, difficult to forget for me.

Q: Fernando, does it get any better than winning at home and being greeted on the podium by your King?
FA: No, so far it’s the best thing that has probably happened to me in Formula One, apart from Brazil where I won the championship, this one was maybe a better feeling because I crossed the line winning the race. In Brazil it was a dramatic race because I had to defend third position to be champion mathematically and it’s a different feeling. Here, with no thoughts in my mind, just free to drive, to win the race, the happiness is better.

Q: Tell us about the start, Giancarlo nearly got you there.
FA: Yeah, Giancarlo had a better start. Probably the reaction time was not great for me and for sure, Giancarlo started better this time and I was lucky to defend the position from the inside line and to get first position thanks to Giancarlo, also in the first corner. It’s always better to fight with your team-mate than with any other driver.

Q: Then you did a short first stint but quite a long final stint.
FA: Yeah, the strategy played well today. It was a little different to Ferrari this time. I think it worked OK because we had pole position, we had a gap after the first stint when we were lighter and then we controlled the gap, more or less, so I’m quite happy.

Q: What animal were you copying on your car at the end?
FA: It’s a secret. It’s not an animal, either.

Q: Michael, you’ve been quite confident this weekend, so when did you realise you didn’t have the necessary pace?
MS: Basically when I had free air and couldn’t really make up enough ground.

Q: That was after Giancarlo’s pit stop?
MS: Yeah, although I wasn’t that close behind him before the first pit stop, so already there it seemed very difficult. But then we obviously knew that maybe later in the race, with a better set of tyres, it may work out differently. But I still had the option and possibility to close down but as we couldn’t do it in the second stint, we couldn’t really make any real impression and win any ground in terms of lap time, so it was clear it would be difficult.

Q: But you had at least overtaken Giancarlo?
MS: Sure. Knowing that I was so close behind him and saw him going in reasonably early, compared to what we could do, it was sort of clear although I almost lost it because I had a little moment in one of the corners, in those important laps, had a bit of traffic, so there were a couple of factors that didn’t really help, but I still made it.

Q: So it was a little bit tight to come out ahead of him.
MS: Yeah, because of the issues I just mentioned; normally it would have been a bit more clear.

Q: Obviously second place was not where you hoped to be, but only losing two points is not so bad.
MS: Yeah, that’s the way you have to see it. You have to understand that you can’t win every race. At certain moments those guys are better than us and maybe at other moments it will be the other way around. It’s a long year to go. We will keep on fighting.

Q: Giancarlo, How close were you to overtaking Fernando at the first corner?
GF: It was close, but it was just the first corner so…It was important to get through the first corner and carry on in the first two positions for us and that as done. I got a good reaction time, better than Fernando, but its okay. I’m happy. Q: What prevented you from staying ahead of Michael at the first stop?
GF: Obviously I was pushing and we were able to be a little bit quicker than him. Obviously I was a little bit lighter then the Ferraris. I think the car balance was little difficult in the rear end and a bit unstable in high-speed corners and the grip wasn’t great to push very hard. Apart from that it was a good race and just after the first pit-stop, when I was behind Michael and my engineers called me in turn three and I lost control of the car and went into the gravel. That was a critical part of the race.

Q: You were talking about the car not having fantastic grip or whatever. Was that in the first stint or did it change after you went off in the gravel?
GF: No, no. Already in the beginning of the race I was pushing, but not 100 per cent because it wasn’t comfortable enough to do that. Maybe after the exit I lost some piece but not sure.

Q: It didn’t change that much?
GF: No, not that much.

Q: (Salvatore Zanca – Associated Press) Fernando, what’s the one thing you remember about today and what did the King say to you when he handed you the trophy?
FA: The thing to remember today is a little bit of everything. The lap I did with the king in the car this morning with all the people enjoying seeing us together, and then the start, the first lap, then Michael coming out of the pits behind me. I think the people realised I was still leading the race so the next two laps were everything blue in the grandstand moving, jumping and for sure the last two laps, the emotion I have in the car. And finishing the race, so a little bit of all. With the King, nothing really, just a little bit of congratulations, a nice race and normal things in the podium


Q: (Fritz-Dieter Rencken – The Citizen) Michael, the incident where you say you nearly lost it. Was that at turn seven or was it somewhere else?
MS: Turn seven.

Q: (Mathias Brunner – Motorsport Aktuell) Michael, you were so confident yesterday of the race pace – it’s hard to believe where the pace went. Are we talking about a tyre problem here because the car apparently worked fine?
MS: I don’t believe it’s fair to blame anything on one area without studying, because, as you quite rightly say, in qualifying, if you put a bit of maths in, I would have been two or three tenths quicker than the pole position time, so it would have been reasonably possible to achieve that, but, all the long runs we did on Friday and Saturday were very quick and quite good. In the race we just weren’t able to quite match it in this situation for whatever reason. We have been here for testing in the winter, it’s sometimes a wind direction change, a temperature change or whatever, could just trigger things to shift one or the other way. We’ve seen it in the past and we’ve seen it in the last test we did here and maybe that’s what happened today. Obviously I’ve just been in the car and not been able to analyse what’s happened. I don’t know exactly what’s going on, I just know that its not what happened before.

Q: (Juha Paatalo – Financial Times Deutschland) Fernando and Michael, normally this track shows the real performance of the cars. If you look at all the other cars, they are a whole way behind you. Are you surprised at that?
FA: I am a little bit surprised, yes, because the last two races was only a fight between Ferrari and Renault and no-one has come in really strongly. Sometimes they show potential in the tests, sometimes on Fridays, sometimes in qualifying, but in the races the fight has been, at least in the last two races, between Ferrari and Renault. I think though that they can come back, especially McLaren and I’m pretty sure before later they will fight with Ferrari and Renault too.

Q: (Mike Doodson) To Michael & Fernando, the two of you have dominated this season and given us lots of pleasure. But both of your successes have been the results of team-work. Do you ever think of the prospect of having a straight race between you? Does that prospect appeal to you?
MS: So you want us to go back to go-karts? I think in any kind of motor racing, you have to rely on the team. It’s the nature of our sport – that team element and it’s a very interesting one, to me at least. Even in go-karts, you have to have a package. It’s not like playing tennis or soccer, no, even in soccer, you have to have the team.

FA: I agree.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Michael, when Alonso made his first pit stop, the gap was about 12 seconds and when you came out, the gap was similar. At that point, did you still have hopes to win the race?
MS: For me, I only start to give up when I see no sense. Most of the time that is on the last lap. Knowing the nature of the circuit where you have basically no chance to overtake, in particular if you are not quick enough. I had to give up after the last pit-stop. I drove home from then.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Giancarlo, yesterday you were saying you want to go for victory. After this race, what is your feeling for the rest of the season?
GF: It’s a good feeling. I have a great team and a great car and the potential of the car to improve and today I was slightly slower than Fernando and Michael maybe, but apart from that I proved I had a chance to win again like in Malaysia. I’m confident for that.

Q: (Juha Paatalo – Financial Times Deutschland) Giancarlo, how do you explain the almost half a minute difference between you and Fernando today?
GF: Just at the beginning, Fernando was able to go a bit quicker than me. And was just more comfortable, I was struggling a little bit with the grip and was not confident to push 100 percent. That’s all.

And Now – Michael Schumacher, Disney Actor

Schumacher set for the silver screen with Disney
Almost 15 years after his Formula One debut, seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher will be making a debut of a different kind on the same weekend as the Monaco Grand Prix.

The 37-year-old’s voice will be heard in a new animation movie from Disney titled 'Cars', in which he plays a cameo role as himself. Schumacher joins other legends of the silver screen and world of motorsport like Paul Newman, Richard Petty, Mario Andretti, Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Jr in the cast of 'Cars'.

Schumacher found his first acting experience behind a microphone quite a challenge.

"When I first heard about this project, I was obviously hesitating as I am not at all good in acting or pretending I am somebody else, and as I have never done anything like this before,” he told Racing-Live.com. “But on the other side, the story was so nice and the whole setting seemed so appealing."

“So we thought: okay, why not try, let’s just go and try it. It was quite difficult doing this, but at the same time it was a lot of fun as it was a totally new experience. And trying new things is always worth it.
"

“We had to stop several times, especially when I did the languages other than German and English, but in the end I hope it will come across well and the people will like it. For sure, it was a very interesting and funny thing to do."

'Cars' will stage its World Premiere at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina on May 26th.

Directed by award-winner John Lasseter (“Toy Story,” “Toy Story 2,” “A Bug’s Life”) with animation by Pixar Animation Studios (“The Incredibles,” “Finding Nemo,” “Monsters, Inc.”), the movie tells the story of Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson).

He is 'a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed,' according to the official website, 'who discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs...'

Thursday press conference from Barcelona – Second Part

Alonso, de la Rosa, Montagny and Rosberg take questions
Ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix local hero Fernando Alonso is joined by Pedro de la Rosa, Franck Montagny and Nico Rosberg in the Thursday press conference.

Q: (Salvatore Zanca – Associated Press) Fernando, what’s the biggest difference here compared to last year. The media, the fans? FA: There are not many to be honest. Last year the attention was quite high already from the people and from the media. I came here last year leading the championship with 20 points higher than Kimi (Raikkonen) and (Jarno) Trulli, so already the pressure was quite big and the people were interested. Now I arrive leading the championship again. I won last year but already this is in the past. I think people are concentrating on this year’s championship –it’s getting very interesting in the last two races and obviously people are looking on Sunday for me to do a good show.

Q: (Tom Clarkson – Tom Clarkson & Associates) Fernando, do you get more excitement out of beating Michael Schumacher than with other drivers? FA: Yes, normally yes. Many times I think that to beat the big names and big drivers and big cars normally gives you more motivation and more excitement. I think that Michael – as a seven-times world champion – it is always nice to fight with him and there is more pressure than to beat any other one. Always winning races and overtaking people is always exciting even if it is anyone.


Q: (Juha Paatalo – Financial Times Deutschland) Fernando, if you compare the development work of Renault and Ferrari in the last two races, how do you see it? FA: We saw that in the last two races Ferrari was coming very strong and won the last two races but I think it is difficult to see how the development is compared with them because we have Michelin tyres. I think compared to McLaren we’ve gone up and then, as well as improving the car race by race, we are beating them normally in the races. And with Ferrari, we don’t know because the tyres look to be more important than anything else. The Bridgestone tyres were working very well in the last two races and hopefully here we will come back fighting and McLaren also.

Q: (Kevin Garside – The Daily Telegraph) – Fernando, Bernie Ecclestone said that drivers do not in general do enough to promote Formula One and in you, we have a champion who doesn’t do much. What are your thoughts? FA: I don’t know what Bernie means with that. I have a team that pay me to do my job. I go testing, I go to promotional events and I have my sponsors, I go to my obligations, I race and this is my job in Formula One. I don’t know what more I have to do. I do everything that is in my contract that I have to.

Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) Felipe when you race in Brazil, what are the good things and the bad things about racing in front of your home crowd? FMa: When I race in Brazil, what are the good things and bad things? It’s great to be in front of your home people with the flags and really enjoying motor racing. That’s really fantastic for me. You can feel a really great feeling to see that from your people. I think the best thing a driver can have in Formula One is to race in front of your home people.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Fernando, we asked about the possibility of Michael Schumacher going to Renault next year and you laughed at that. Now it seems you and Kimi (Raikkonen) could swap places. What’s your view on that? FA: I don’t know anything. I have decided after I fight for the championship this year, my future for next year and it doesn’t matter what the others are doing, It’s always interesting to see what the other drivers are doing, but that is just for fun rather than anything else. Whether the guy who replaces me is a name we all know or a new driver in the championship is not important.

Q: (Dominic Fugere – Le Journal de Montreal) Fernando, when I got here I was greeted by a cardboard cut-out of you at a petrol station. How do you feel about things like that? FA: Strange, for sure, because in the last two years everything grown up in Formula One. Three years ago we had half a million people watching F1 and now there are 10 million people watching the race. It has been a big change because now Formula One is a sport about which everybody is talking in the streets and for sure my image or my face is in some more places now, but for me it’s very strange.

Q: (Thierry Wilmotte - Le Soir) Fernando, is it realistic to think that who wins the championship is dependent on the tyre manufacturers? FA: No, I think for sure it will be a very important factor. If Michelin or Bridgestone is in a very dominant position from now on then yes. Maybe Ferrari or the first Michelin team will win the championship more easily. The way were now we are quite close, we are fighting every race and there’s McLaren and Honda who are also in the fight but they have not had a successful weekend so far. Now it think it is close enough and we are racing still with four teams and anything can happen so It is more reliant on small factors and the guy who finishes on the podium the most and is the most reliable and makes no mistakes will win.

Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) Nico, there’s been a lot of potential with the car this season but a lot of frustration with reliability problems. What’s the atmosphere like in the team now? NR: Williams is known for their determination of course. Because of the recent problems we’ve had, we could have done a lot better then we have up until now. The main thing again is that Williams are always pushing ahead and trying to get solutions to the problems and so the main thing I think in the team is flat-out determination.

Q: (Tom Clarkson – F1 Racing) Fernando, how much contact have you had with McLaren recently with a view towards 2007? Have you been to the factory? FA: Nothing. Nothing at all

Q: (Carlos Miquel – Diario As) Fernando, would you like to have Pedro as a team-mate or test driver at McLaren next year? FA: For sure, Pedro knows the team very well and has lots of experience working with the team. For sure, it’s great to have another Spanish driver in the team and he can help me a lot for sure, and I hope Pedro stays next year.

Q: (Mike Doodson) Fernando, I saw a TV advert with you making some nifty dance steps. Was it really you with the dance steps? FA: Of course. Two months preparation for this. No it was not me. A joke.

Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) Franck, I believe you have a two race deal with the team. Is that correct? What are your prospects for staying with the team beyond that? FMo: I will do the best as I can for sure. Certainly when we get to Monaco it will be tough. To be honest, I don’t really know the car so we cannot expect to be mid-grid, so I’ll fight as much as I can to do a good job and try to do my best.

Q: Is there a chance of you continuing with the team for the rest of the season? FM: I am not the right person to ask.

Q: Would they prefer an all Japanese team? Is that the case? FM: If you look on the sidepod of the car, there is badge that says ‘born in Japan’ so for sure it would be more interesting to have another Japanese driver in the car. While I’m in the car, I will try to do a very good job.

Q: (Heinz Pruller - ORF) Gentlemen, with the World Cup coming up, who do you think will be world champions, and who is your favourite player? FA: Brazil I think. My favourite player is Zidane.

FMa: We are quite strong for the world cup and definitely Ronaldinho

NR: I think Brazil is probably the favourite and Ronaldinho

FMo: Same as my friend over there: Brazil and Ronaldinho

PDR: Spain obviously, and Casillas. We have to give a little bit to ourselves.

Thursday press conference from Barcelona - Firts Part

With Alonso, de la Rosa, Montagny and Rosberg
Ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix local hero Fernando Alonso is joined by Pedro de la Rosa, Franck Montagny and Nico Rosberg in the Thursday press conference.

Q: Franck, life must have changed for you quite a lot… Franck MONTAGNY: Yeah, just a little bit: from my living room to a race track. Yeah, quite a lot.

Q: Tell us how it all came about? FMo: Quite quickly and I am quite happy to be here, for sure. Thanks to Super Aguri for giving me this opportunity first. They called me a week before the race at Nurburgring and they asked me to come to be third driver, to do the testing on the Friday, because they could do it with a third car, and when I arrived, they asked me to do the race, because they had a problem with the second driver. I was just glad to do it.

Q: How can you see yourself improving the team, with your experience from Renault? FMo: Well, I don’t think we can improve this car, for sure, but the more we work on this car and all the things we can see from this car, we can maybe make a better car in the future. We all know that SA06 is coming soon so we can still work on new stuff, what I have learned in the past, what Takuma has learned in the past and maybe it’s going to be better.

Q: And this race is a bit of a home race for you, isn’t it? FMo: Yeah, kind of, yeah. I used to live for four years here in Spain, in Barcelona, particularly. I really love this city. It’s a very beautiful city, nice people, open minds.
I have a lot of good things to say about here.

Q: And you still have a business here? Your hairdressing business? FMo: Yeah, but I don’t cut hair, don’t get me wrong! I haven’t been there this week; no time!

Q: Nico, tremendous race at the Nurburgring. The first time you went out on the track it was as though you had huge confidence, because you instantly set fastest time. Does knowing the circuit give you that much confidence? Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, the Nurburgring is one of the tracks that I know best throughout the year, coming into F1, because I’ve done a lot of races there, and I’ve had some great success there too. So I did feel confident going onto the track. Obviously it’s always quite different when you tackle the track with a Formula One car, because the way you take the corners and everything is quite different. But I found that in especially in the beginning there, it was actually quite similar to all the other cars (I’ve driven) so it worked out quite well initially and, yeah, the whole weekend worked out quite well. It was quite a good result in the end, I think.

Q: Will you have similar confidence at all the circuits you know? NR: Yes, of course. It’s always a help when you come to a circuit and you know where you’re going to be going, also for your confidence and everything. It is a slight help, yeah, every time.

Q: What’s the pace of development like at Williams? NR: I think it’s probably very similar to all the other teams. They’re pushing like hell in the factory, that I know, and I think development has been going very well. We’ve had some steps nearly every weekend so I think we will be keeping up, for sure, and maybe coming a bit closer too, sometimes.

Q: Have you been pretty pleased with your own performance, basically? NR: Yeah, I’ve been pleased. It has been a bit up and down all the way to here, from my side and from the team’s side, but I think that could have been expected. As a whole, I have to say that I think it’s gone quite well, but I hope to progress and do even better in the future.

Q: Felipe, your first podium at the Nurburgring. What does that do for a driver, for his morale? Felipe MASSA: I think it gives you happiness, first of all, and a lot more motivation to keep doing the same job. It was very very important for me, it was a great result, it’s fantastic to be on the podium.

Q: How much of a difference did your new engineer make? FMa: For sure. If you have an engineer at Ferrari, he should be a good engineer. My ex-engineer was definitely a very very good engineer. The biggest problem was a little bit on the organisation and on the radio, so I was quite confident in my new engineer, who did a great job, talking about everything, not just the set-up, but everything that’s going on and what’s happening in the race weekend.

Q: From a Ferrari point of view, is the team going to be at a little bit at a disadvantage here in comparison to Renault who have perhaps done more testing than Ferrari have? FMa: I don’t think so. We also tested at this track and we understood many important things, many good things. We improved the car a lot, especially in the last two races, so I think we can probably be very very competitive, as we were at the Nurburgring and also at Imola.

Q: Pedro, what’s your role this weekend with McLaren Mercedes? Pedro de la ROSA: Well, my role is the same as in the past, for the past races. Firstly, it is to act as a reserve driver; if anything happens, I have to be ready. And then just keep in touch with the engineers, the team, the drivers, Michelin, you know, just being involved, as much as I can, if I can help, with the tyre selection, everything. We’ve done all the tyre testing here, prior to this Grand Prix so I’m quite aware of which tyres are here and why and help, help if I can. Nothing else.

Q: What are the particular characteristics of this circuit, what do you have to look out for? PDR: I think that the biggest problems everyone will face here is front tyre graining and blistering. Those are the two major factors that are always the limiting factor. Choosing a soft compound here you have to be careful about graining. The front left tyre has a very hard time on this track because all the corners are very long, you’re putting load on that tyre for a long time, and you stay on the throttle for a long time as well. And then you have the blistering factor which happened last year to Fernando and other Michelin runners. That’s always a risk here.

Q: Fernando, your home circuit, is it something to be looked forward to or does it make it a little bit more complicated for you? Fernando ALONSO: No, it’s the same. It’s a normal race for me but obviously with much more support from the grandstands, so for me it is extra motivation for sure, to race here at home, and hopefully to get a good result here on Sunday.

Q: We heard from Pedro about tyre choice, and there was some doubt about the tyre choice at Nurburgring. How difficult is it to make that tyre choice? FA: It’s very difficult. As Pedro said, we normally test here at Barcelona before the Grand Prix in order to chose the tyres. Sometimes we test in Paul Ricard or another circuit, to chose the tyres for a completely different circuit, and you have to guess, a little bit, to believe what the Michelin… things which will be working on that type of asphalt, temperature, conditions etc, and I think particularly here in Barcelona, because we test all winter with five or six degrees temperature. We came here in May with 25. Normally, it’s a little bit different. But normally we have been really good, in the last two years, here with the tyres so I have full confidence in the right choice for this weekend.

Q: Should you be scared or worried about Ferrari’s form at the moment? How worried are you? FA: Not much, same worry as I have from McLaren and Honda. I think we’re still the four teams which should fight for victory in all Grands Prix. In the first five races, everything worked perfectly for Renault and Ferrari and we won all five races but I think McLaren and Honda have the pace as well and they normally qualify really well, especially Honda. McLaren normally do something more in the race, always close to the podium and I’m sure that if one weekend goes right for them, it will also be a close fight and I think what we have to do is work on our car, on our programme, our strategy, do as good a weekend as we can, as we did in the first five races and the result will be good in the end.

Q: Presumably for every team it’s a matter of getting a whole number of factors absolutely right. FA: Many factors: tyre choice, how the tyres work on the car – last weekend was not perfect for the Michelin runners, I think – strategy, fuel load in qualifying, the single lap qualifying: when you put on the new set of tyres at the end of Q3 (third qualifying) has to be your best lap of the weekend if you want to be at the front. There are many things that have to be perfect all weekend, and that’s what we’re looking for this weekend.

Delight for Schumacher and Massa at Nurburgring

European GP - Race
Passing Fernando Alonso to take the lead during the second round of pit stops, Michael Schumacher controlled the remainder of the race to take his second race win of the season and 86th of his career.

While Schumacher celebrated his back-to-back win, Felipe Massa drove a strong race in the sister 248 F1 and recorded his first career podium position.

Michael Schumacher
“A great race, great strategy and SPONSORED LINKS
a great performance from the whole team. I am happy for all of them and I think the result shows we are back, with car, engine, tyres and fuel all working superbly. At the start, I was in Alonso’s slipstream and I thought I was safe in second place as I could not see anything in my mirrors, but then luckily, I realised that Felipe was coming alongside me very quickly, but I managed to stay ahead. Apart from that, my only moment was when I ran a bit wide in turn 6, before the first pit stop. I pushed too hard as I thought I could catch Fernando there. It’s a very nice feeling winning my home Grand Prix. Unfortunately though, we have only made up two points on Fernando, but every point counts. I am also pleased for Felipe, getting his first F1 podium today and now I am looking forward to another good fight in Barcelona.”

Felipe Massa
“I am very happy. Today, I stood on the podium for the first time and it was a really great feeling. I am also happy that this coincided with a win for Michael, as it shows the team is really in the fight for the title.
We have to give it our all, race after race. I made a great start to such an extent that I found myself alongside Michael, but as he had the inside line at turn one, he was able to stay ahead. The strategy worked very well and the Bridgestone tyre performance was fantastic. Only in the final stages, when I had taken on a used set, was I unable to push to the maximum. I got close to Alonso, but I had Kimi closing on me quickly. There were a few difficult moments, but I managed to keep third place, while also trying to get by Fernando. Now, I am tempted to keep my race suit on: the champagne smells nice!”

Ross Brawn
“We are very very happy. It was a challenging race, although we knew we had the pace to win if we made the correct decisions at some keys stages of the race. The team and the drivers did a perfect job. The Bridgestone tyres were very strong throughout the race and we got good performance from the whole package. Shell has done a great job with all the fluids in the car and that all came together and helped our performance today. It’s clear we are going to face a tough challenge for the rest of the season, but this is a great way to start it.”
Jean Todt
“A great result after a very close fight. The sixteen points we got today are no miracle, but come from a perfect combination of many elements: two drivers of the calibre of Michael and Felipe, the team, the chassis, the engine, the high-performing Bridgestone tyres and the fundamental support from Shell, in terms of fuel and lubricants. This success, following on from the win in Imola, is further encouragement to give our all, already starting next weekend in Barcelona, as we try and reach the goals we set ourselves at the start of the season. There is still a very long way to go, but we intend doing all we can to be in the running right to the end of the Championship.”

European Grand Prix press conference

With Schumacher, Alonso and Massa
Michael Schumacher took his second straight win today at the European Grand Prix with Fernando Alonso again finishing in second position. Felipe Massa joined the two Champions on the podium for the first time. Here’s what the top three finishers had to say.

Q: Michael, congratulations. Just talk us through those early stages when you were trailing Fernando as you were.
Michael SCHUMACHER: It was no surprise that it was difficult because we were driving pretty competitively and as quick as we could. It’s a bit more difficult behind when you’re driving in the slipstream and the wind conditions today made it a bit tricky in certain areas. But at the end of the day, on the tyre side, the car side, the engine side and fuel and everything was just superb.

Q: You did two superb in-laps, the fastest lap of the race and a great out-lap as well.
MS: Yeah, well the out-lap was not that important – it was just getting out of the pit-lane in front. I always thought we could do it at the first pit-stop, but then I pushed a bit too high at turn six and almost lost it and that was probably the reason that I had to spend more time behind until the last pit-stop, which was interesting because it was varying quite a bit in certain parts of the race where Fernando sometimes seemed a bit slower and then sometimes I seemed to be a bit slower and then I was picking it up again and he had a pit-stop where he was pushing very hard, but we could match his sort of pace.

Q: And perfect strategy. You didn’t seem too happy after qualifying yesterday, but it’s all panned out perfectly as it’s turned out.

MS: We obviously chose to stay out extra lap, which honestly doesn’t give you two tenths. The reason Fernando gained the two tenths was because I didn’t get a perfect lap and he obviously did and that’s where it went. Because I felt we had a good strategy and I felt good about it, and I knew we had a good race pace because on new tyres I knew we could push and it all worked out.

Q: Fernando, a great second place and eight valuable points. Talk us through the race from your point of view.
Fernando ALONSO: It was a quite interesting race. I started from pole position and I was controlling the race with the pace. I knew there was an area for Michael, so we had new tyres at the first pit-stop. It was okay and I came in-front of Michael at the end. In the second pit-stop it was not so good because we stopped maybe three of four laps too early and that was too much. I think sometimes in a race you have traffic, but sometimes nothing helps when you are leading the race and second place is a fantastic result considering we were a little bit down from Ferrari’s performance this weekend. Also, I think the tyres were not perfectly okay for this weekend, so even with everything, to get the eight points means that we have everything okay and we should win again.
Q: Third stint for you, once Michael had got the lead, how hard was that and how hard did you try to push it for a couple of laps?
FA: I tried for two or three laps and we had similar lap times, but from then we just turned the revs down and this engine has to race next week in Barcelona and we need to always get on the podium.

Q: So you had Felipe under control?
FA: More or less yes. Maybe it was a bit close at the end, but clearly it was controlled.

Q: Felipe, a great drive from you. A lot of pressure on Fernando in the closing stages and equally on you from Kimi Räikkönen.
Felipe MASSA: I’m really happy – it was a great result for us and especially with my first podium. The whole car was quite strong, especially at the beginning when I and Michael were both pushing Fernando and then suddenly they got the pace. My car was quite consistent all race and the tyres were working well. Only in the last stint – where I had scrubbed tyres – it was not working so well. It was a great result, it helps the team out for the championship and especially me and Michael for the fight. In the first three races we were not on the pace, so hopefully now there is a chance for us to fight with Renault for the races.

Q: You made a great start too from P3 on the grid. Michael was alongside you in the first corner.
FM: Sure, I had a very good start and I could manage to put my car side-by-side with Michael but he was on the inside so he was able to go ahead. Really, it was a great start and I think the whole thing was perfect with the strategy too. The management of the race was very good.

Q: Michael, a great result, two wins in a row. Next race next week is the Spanish Grand Prix. Fernando usually goes pretty well there.
MS: Yeah. It’s no surprise to expect Renault up at the front, and also they shouldn’t be surprised to see us at the front either. We will battle to win.

Q: Michael, that seemed a pretty perfect race.
MS: Yeah. If you finish first, what can you say? That’s the way it makes everybody happy who wants to see us winning, obviously. It was a great race, great strategy, great performance all the way through.

Q: Did the strategy basically come from Ross?
MS: Obviously Ross is the man who finally decides, but we’re a team and there are several people involved in working out our strategies and preparing everything so it’s a team effort.

Q: It was quite close between yourself and Felipe at the start of the race.
MS: I was just saying to Felipe that I started off and tried to see where he was, somewhere on my left but I couldn’t see him in the mirrors, neither could I see him looking over (the side of the car), so I was trying to get into Fernando’s slipstream thinking that there wasn’t anybody nearby but then suddenly he pulled alongside, so I was a little bit surprised for a moment, but I hope… I guess I didn’t cause any fuss for Felipe.

Q: There was one point, lap 24, when you suddenly lost a couple of seconds. You were saying that the gap between yourself and Fernando seemed to go up and down a fair amount, but you seemed to lose a couple of seconds on one lap.
MS: I had two occasions, honestly. One was when Fernando went into the pits and I pushed, naturally, pretty hard and I got a bad tail wind in one corner which almost took me off the circuit and then during the race, probably lap 24, I went wide in turn 11, I think, which was quite tricky, and I lost quite a bit of ground. But then, at that stage, Fernando was strong in the middle sector of the second stint, I was pretty strong and then we were pretty equal before the pit stops.

Q: And that was the only problem during the race?
MS: Yeah. When you’re up here, you can’t have had too many problems!

Q: Fernando, how much pressure was Michael giving you in the early stages and at the end of the second stint?
FA: It was not too much to be honest. It’s difficult to follow people here and also the gap was 0.6s, 0.8s and it’s difficult to get much closer than that. It was not really an opportunity to overtake, so I was quite relaxed, controlling the engine a little bit and I pushed when I thought it was time to push right before the second stop and on the first pit-stop. I kept the lead in the first one, but in the second one, it was, of course, not possible any more.

Q: So are you disappointed with second?
FA: No, not at all. I think we came here with some questions as to how Ferrari will perform here, McLaren, us, and I think Honda was not too competitive this weekend, to be honest. With their grip problems - they were dealing with that so it was difficult to understand how. I think today we saw the normal picture again that we now need something more to win. At Imola we were ready to fight – I think we were quicker than Ferrari during the race but I think here it was a question of time: when do they overtake us? At the first stop, second stop but it was nearly impossible to keep them behind for sixty laps.

Q: Looking back, would you have changed your tyre choice if you had the opportunity?
FA: No, I think we did the right thing. I think we need to improve a little bit in all areas in the car and I think Barcelona will be a good point, because we have always been quick there in testing. Michelin has been in a dominant position in Barcelona over the last two years, so I’m really looking forward to winning that one.

Q: Felipe, you were very close at the end to Fernando, but you also had Kimi right up behind you as well.
FM: Yeah, the last five laps were not so easy because I was getting closer and closer to Fernando and Kimi was getting closer and closer to me, because I was getting very close to Fernando and I lost performance, for sure. But anyway, I think it was a great result, I’m really happy, first podium and everything worked fantastically for us this weekend. We brought the right tyres, for sure. The car was working perfectly and the race was very good.

Q: And a demon start as well.
FM: Yeah, I had a very good start. I was side by side with Michael into the braking area but he was inside and so he stayed in front but I think my car was very competitive and it was very consistent during the whole race. Sometimes the wind was changing, the situation was a little bit tricky over a couple of corners, and then the wind changed a little bit and it was a little bit tricky in other corners, but anyway, I could handle it to do a good race without mistakes and that’s very important for me and the team.

Q: It’s been a good weekend for Todts!
FM: Definitely. They won both races in GP2 and finishing third for Nicolas is really good and for Jean, it’s definitely a fantastic job. We’re now getting closer to Renault in every race and fighting every race is very important for us. Hopefully now we will get the right direction to fight every race.

Q: (Sal Zanca – AP) Michael, after three races, it didn’t look so good for Ferrari. What has made the difference in the last two races? The car? The driver? The team? The strategy? One thing please!
MS: I thought we looked good already at the first race honestly, so it’s not a surprise. We are good now because with the exception of Malaysia where we probably weren’t that competitive, in the rest of the races we had the package available. We didn’t make use of it all the time like in Australia and now it’s just normal development, where you go through the bits and pieces that are coming, aerodynamic, engine and so on where you make little steps. As I said at the beginning, the important thing from now on is who has the quicker rate of development. We have been good, traditionally, in the past, not very good last year but sometimes everybody needs a break.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Michael, at the beginning of the second stint, you lost a little bit of performance in comparison to Alonso, more than two seconds. Did you think that your chances could be over at that time?
MS: Naturally when you have a period where it’s a bit more difficult you start to think but then we always have something in hand to react and it worked out pretty well. I think he was going quickly and I was just struggling a little bit more and made this mistake in turn 11 which almost caused me to go off and I had to be quiet for two or three laps and then I could go again.

Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Michael, are these two consecutive victories the final confirmation that you will be able to fight for the championship this year, or did you have that feeling already?
MS: I had no doubt, honestly, that we would be in that position.

Q: (Juha Päätalo – Financial Times Germany) Fernando, how do you see the development pace of Ferrari now? Are you getting worried about the championship?
FA: No, not at all. I think it’s not a surprise that Ferrari is fighting. I expect McLaren will arrive also. Honda are really strong in some races, so nothing changes from the beginning of the championship. There are four teams, sometimes one is quicker, sometimes another one is slower, but all four teams are strong and ready to fight. We also had to be careful about tyres. I think in the next two races Michelin may be stronger than Bridgestone, we will probably see different races, so it’s difficult to say which one will be quicker.

Q: (Fulvio Solms – Corriere dello Sport) Question for Michael and Fernando: do you like this points system which doesn’t help the show, with only two points difference between victory and second position?
MS: I think you will get pretty logical answers: no for me and probably yes from him! FA: The same thing happened last year as well. I was winning seven races and the gap was always not enough.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – O Estado de Sao Paulo) Fernando, are you satisfied with the development programme of your team?
FA: I’m not an engineer, so I don’t know what we can do. I think it’s all about money, about lots of things, how you develop the car more. We’re happy, we were World Champions last year, we are leading both World Championships this year, so the team should be quite good, I think.

Q: (Anthony Rowlinson – Autosport) Fernando, are you worried that having a second race on the engine next week might affect your chances of winning your home race?
FA: No, not really. I think the difference we saw between the first race and the second race of the engine is less than one tenth, probably. We’re talking half a tenth. So I hope that if I have the chance to win in Barcelona, this half a tenth won’t be necessary.

Thursday FIA press conference

Ahead of the European GP
This Thursday’s FIA press conference with the following drivers: Christijan Albers (MF1), Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber), Christian Klien (Red Bull Racing), Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), Ralf Schumacher (Toyota).

Christian, you missed this race last year; is it one that’s difficult to learn or one you know quite well?
Christian Klien: Actually, I know it quite well. I think I did the most races here in all the lower categories and in all the lower categories that I raced here, I won the race, so I quite like the circuit and I hope that that helps me this weekend.

What are your feelings about Red Bull at the moment; do you think they are where they should be?
CK: Yeah, for sure we should be further up. We had so many troubles in the last couple of months. We’re still running about a month behind schedule because we had these cooling problems at the beginning of the season and we had a lot of reliability problems in the races. I think the car has the pace and if everything works well – like in Bahrain and Malaysia, we had the pace, we were there, but we just couldn’t finish the races. We had some good tests in Barcelona and also last week in Silverstone, so we hope that we can get back on the road and get good results again.

Your team mate says that good testing doesn’t necessarily mean good races.
CK: Yeah, but it’s important to have good tests as well.
We’ve sorted out a few reliability problems and for sure that will help us in the races as well.

So you feel this one should be better.
CK: I feel it should be better. We’ve had a lot of bad luck in the last couple of races, so all the bad luck is gone now and we should get some (good) luck back.

Nick, you had problems with your back at Silverstone; is that all cleared up?
Nick Heidfeld: Yes, all cleared up.

What did it feel like? How bad was it?
NH: I had muscle cramp while driving so I went home, saw a doctor, he found that I had a mobility problem with my hip, it was blocked so I had a bit of treatment and now it’s fine.

Tell us about the Nürburgring: do you regard it as your local circuit? You were on pole last year, raced to second but you’ve also been disqualified twice, in Formula One and F3000. You’ve had your ups and downs.
NH: Yeah, for me it’s more the ups, really. If I look at the results I achieved here and the mistakes I made here, it was quite good. Of course, being disqualified here in F3000 was bad but at the same time I was on pole position, so I’ve always gone quite well here.

So what are the chances this time? BMW looked very good in the first two or three races but it seems to have dropped off since.
NH: Imola was quite difficult for us. I struggled quite badly there, not getting the grip I thought I would get with new tyres. But I think the last couple of races have also shown how close together the field is. If you are just a few tenths quicker, you’re up there. If you miss a few tenths you’re out of the points so you have to get everything together perfectly and then you should fight for points.

Christijan, any side effects from landing on your head a couple of weeks ago?
Christijan Albers: No, I’m still crazy. I’m still the same. No, I had no problems. Everything went quite well. We have a new chassis so we’re going for it again this weekend, maximum attack. I feel good, no problems.

Do you regard this as your home race?
CA: Yeah, for sure. Spa-Francorchamps fell away but it was quite good for the Dutch fans because it’s quite close to Holland, of course. And Nürburgring is the second closest so I think I’m expecting a lot of Dutch fans which will be nice.

Now there was a suggestion that there was a Dutch consortium, possibly of your sponsors, bidding to take over Midland. Can you tell us anything about that?
CA: I have no clue. I’m just a racing driver.

Ralf, I believe you’ve been testing a new car at the Circuit Paul Ricard: how eager are you to get hold of that car as soon as possible?
Ralf Schumacher: I’m not. It’s another little step but we knew that it would be a few tests before we launch it for its first race. That’s the plan. Certainly as a race driver you always tend to want to have the newest machinery as quickly as possible but it’s not possible and I must say that there are some steps, some improvements have been made with the new car but still, for this circuit, I don’t see any problem at all. We will continue with the package we achieved a few good positions on and so I think we’re on for another good one.

You won here in 2003, but haven’t finished the last couple of races. What are your feelings about this circuit?
RS: They did a lot of changes to the good, it’s very safe, it’s a nice circuit, especially for us. I’ve known it since my first steps in motor sport, so it’s also great to be here.

One or two changes in the team; how have they affected you?
RS: Not really. The structure has been very good, it has been developed with Mike as well anyway. It’s a very strong team and there are good people in there, so it hasn’t affected the team in any way.

I believe you’re on the 150th Grand Prix mark…
RS: Don’t remind me!

Is there a certain amount of frustration there?
RS: Well, certainly, it’s pretty clear that I’ve not achieved what I was targeting when I started in Formula One. Still, it’s amazing how quickly time goes by. At the same time, I hope I still have a few to go to put it right.

Michael, four wins here at the Nürburgring in Formula One: what are the chances of repeating the Imola success?
Michael Schumacher: I believe that we are in position to fight for it. As we’ve seen, and mentioned several times, the competition is very close between at least three, if not more teams who certainly can win the race and it’s only up to who can get the maximum out of the package. If we can do so, we have a chance; if we don’t we don’t.

Michelin have suggested that this is a Michelin circuit. What do you have to say about that?
MS: We’ll see.

There were concerns about tyre temperatures going to Imola, more after Imola because it was perhaps warmer than expected. Similarly, it looks as if this weekend could be warmer than expected. Is the working range of the tyres, now it’s so competitive that it has to be narrow, is that a concern of yours?
MS: We have had concerns. We have learned how to handle the tyres because it’s certainly different this year to what we experienced in the past, but we believe we’re on top of the situation and how to handle it.

There is yet more speculation about your future; what’s the situation?
MS: No change.

A question for you all: Yuji Ide has been replaced by Franck Montagny following recommendations from the FIA that Ide should get more mileage in testing. What are your feelings about a new driver entering Formula One and then being stood down?
CA: I have to say it’s quite difficult. One thing, for sure, is that’s always easy to say that a new driver needs more mileage, but how does he get that mileage? That’s also quite a big problem. We have quite a lot of top teams and it’s quite difficult for young drivers to get to the top. Some of them stay quite long. I think everybody needs to have a chance. He needs to get some experience so he needs to go racing to get that experience and before that, you need to get some mileage. With all respect, last year I didn’t do much mileage with Minardi. I did a lot of racing. It’s up to the FIA to decide. I think sometimes we give it too much attention. All young drivers want to have a chance in a top team and it’s not easy to get all the way up there.

NH: Without judging Ide’s driving, I don’t think it will change a lot if does more testing.

CK: Yes, a couple of times I was behind him. I didn’t judge it. But it’s interesting sometimes to see his lines. Sometimes he had really different lines to us. It’s a problem if you’re in a team with a lower budget. Obviously they don’t do as much testing as the bigger teams and then you don’t get the mileage in the car. That was difficult for him as well.

MS: No comment.

RS: No comment.

(Dan Knutson – National Speedsport News) Question for all five of you: you’re race drivers who like to go fast. This year the cornering speeds are higher than ever. Are the cars more fun to drive than last year, and the second part of the question is, are we getting to the point now where the cornering speeds in some corners with limited run-off areas might be too high?

MS: In a way, you could argue that, that the run-off areas… One of the reasons to go to V8 engines was to reduce lap times and speeds and to make things safer, because Max’s argument was to reduce speeds because the run-offs were made only for a certain speed. But with the development of Formula One, ten engineers make the rules and then there are hundreds of them working against them, so the nature is pretty clear. You always lose the game although the achievement is big. Imagine if we had V10s, how quick we would go. In this respect, I think a lot has been achieved. You’re right in mid-cornering speed but then you have to think about the arrival speed because now, instead of doing 320, we’re maybe doing 300, so there is significantly less speed down the straight, but then maybe higher cornering speed. All in all, I think the direction of Formula One is clear. From the future on, I think that’s what is really needed to be able to make a big step. They’re still fun to drive, they’re just different.

RS: In general he’s right. There might be a certain stage where a certain speed is not safe due to run-off areas or whatever. The FIA has gone in the right direction and there’s more to come but this year, you can feel that in some places we are quicker and the cars, due to the new tyres, different tyres compared to last year, they are more fun to drive.

NH: Well, from a drivers’ point of view I enjoy going quicker in the corners, definitely, but as Michael said, you have to look at safety at the same time, and probably we are a bit quicker in some apexes but there’s not a huge difference, it’s not like we are 15/20kph quicker, so you don’t feel a huge difference. I have enjoyed driving both types of car, probably the V10 was a bit nicer out of slow speed corners, simply feeling more power, but on the other hand, unfortunately, we still have traction control, so you can’t do so much as a driver, so hopefully we can abandon traction control.

CK: We were testing last week at Silverstone and the speed in the corners was quite a bit higher, and for sure, that’s fun but then you have to think about the run-off areas as well. For example, Liuzzi had a big shunt in a high speed corner last week. It’s nice for drivers to be quick there through the high speed corners, but then safety has to be a higher priority.

CA: I have to say that I think we’re going in the right direction. The V10 was nicer for the drivers to drive but you have to get some speed out of the car somewhere.

Michael Schumacher to consult family

Regharding his future in Formula One
Michael Schumacher will consider his young family in the decision about whether or not to sign another Ferrari contract.
That is the revelation of the 37-year-old German's personal manager, Willi Weber, who added that any agreement to race beyond 2006 will be for two years.
But he told dpa: "Naturally there are always exit clauses in today's contracts; no team can force a driver to drive if he doesn't want to."

Also playing down considerations of salary, Weber said Schumacher would be consulting his wife and two children about whether more 300kph soaring around the Grand Prix circuits of the world is a good idea.

"There are not only sporting considerations," he insisted, "but also private ones. Michael's family plays a significant role."

Ralf Schumacher frustrated by lack of success

''I haven't achieved what I was targeting''
Ralf Schumacher said here Thursday that he was frustrated at his lack of achievement in Formula One on the eve of his 150th Formula One start in the European Grand Prix.

Schumacher, the younger brother of seven-times drivers' world champion Michael Schumacher, has won six Grand Prix to his brother's 85, and admitted that he is not happy about living in Michael's shadow. But the Toyota driver has not yet given up hope of claiming the drivers' crown.

Schumacher, 30, said: "Certainly, it's pretty clear that I haven't achieved what I was targeting when I started in Formula One. Still, it's amazing how quickly time goes by. At the same time, I hope I still have a few to go to put it right.
"

The Nurburgring has seen some great races for Schumacher in the past. He won in 2003 at the wheel of a Williams-BMW to move into title contention. But he will want to forget the 1997 race in which he took brother Michael's Ferrari out at the first corner, and last year he was penalised 25 seconds for blocking Williams' Nick Heidfeld while exiting the pits after a fuel stop.