Drivers: 1. Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India), 1m 46.308s; 2. Jarno Trulli (Toyota), 1m 46.395s; 3. Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber), 1m 46.500s
Q: Giancarlo, your best qualifying position this season up to this point was 13th. Only one question to ask you. How did you do it?
Giancarlo Fisichella: I dont know. It is unbelievable. I did not expect to be on pole position, especially after yesterday. I was sixth and I was quite surprised because there was a lot of understeer and the measurements on the downforce were not good. This morning we went through the problems and the car was much better straight away and in the qualifying session the car was even better than I expected, so I was able to be the quickest in Q1, the fourth quickest in Q2 and pole position in Q3. It is amazing. It is fantastic. I am so happy about that and I need to thank the team as they did a fantastic job. I did not expect that result, so I am really, really happy and really confident for tomorrow.
Q: Jarno, you were quick all through the day; tell us why you think that weve got the result that weve got this afternoon?
Jarno Trulli: Well, its a mystery honestly. We havent done anything on the car compared to the last few races and suddenly here we are extremely competitive. Weve been competitive all the way through while weve been setting up the car and its great, its great for the engineers, for the team and all my mechanics in the team because were going through a difficult moment because we dont understand why sometimes we struggle so much and sometimes we are so quick like today. So its a very good day, Im very confident for tomorrow because as I say, Ive been running most of the weekend on heavy fuel, so being second in qualifying with a good fuel load, I think Im going to have a good race tomorrow.
Q: Nick, a poignant result for you with BMW announcing that they are pulling out of F1. What will this mean to you and the whole team?
Nick Heidfeld: It is obviously very important to everyone in the team. We said after BMW decided to pull out that BMW wants to leave on a high and not with what we have shown in the first couple of races. It is even more important for the squad in Hinwil. We are working at the moment on securing the team. It is difficult to say what is going to happen at this moment in time but it is great that we can show that we had a good performance.
Q: Giancarlo, you have picked a great moment for all kinds of reasons to get this result. You have shown what you can do today.
GF: Yes, absolutely. This is one of my favourite circuits. I did well in the past and I was sure to be competitive this year too. But I did not expect, as I told you, to be on pole. It is great. I feel so happy for myself, for the team, for the mechanics and engineers. Everybody did a fantastic job. We did a fantastic step forward, especially from the last race. Considering out budget I did not expect that.
PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: Giancarlo, tell us really what has made the difference.
GF: Obviously the new aero package for this circuit and actually yesterday I was quite surprised to be sixth and the car balance was completely away. We understood the problem this morning. We went through the problem and straight away when we put the car on the ground it was much better. We were confident to be top 15. Like that to be top 10. But to be on pole we did not expect that. In Q1 I was first and in Q2 I was fourth quickest, so we played to do the pole and I am on pole. It is a fantastic result. I am really happy for that and for myself, for the team and for all the mechanics and for the engineers. They did a fantastic job, even in the factory the development has been really good. I could not believe that considering out budget. It is amazing, so thanks to all the team and we need to keep going like that.
Q: There was a bit of an incident this morning when you hit something and damaged the nose. Can you tell us something about that?
GF: It was on the out lap. It was a rabbit. You know what, my engineers told me that in England when you do something with a rabbit it brings you luck. That was true, so next time I will go round the circuit to find some other rabbit.
Q: But it damaged the nose section, didnt it?
GF: I damaged the nose and we were able to repair it at the end of free practice and for the qualifying session everything was perfect.
Q: Would you say that you are quite aggressively fuelled for tomorrow?
GF: Well, actually I think we are a little bit aggressive. We knew to be top three was important. But dont forget I was fourth quickest in Q2, so we are not so slow.
Q: Jarno, why do you think this situation is as it is?
JT: It is a good question which none of us can answer at the moment, especially when things go wrong. As when things go right we know that we have got a good car. We always had it from the beginning of the season but we understand that sometimes it just slips away and we are not competitive and we are very bad sometimes. Sometimes it happens through the weekend from one session to another. We came here and straight away we were looking really strong and in qualifying basically I was always topping the time. In Q1 I took it a little bit easy but in Q2 I was again top and I think I did also a very good Q3, so it is looking pretty good for the race and I have to thank the team. I dedicate this to all my mechanics and everybody there as we are going through a difficult moment and sometimes it is hard to not understand what is going on.
Q: Obviously you had new wings here and a little bit of a problem with the back end. How much of a difference have the wings made and did you get the grip that you needed?
JT: We did not really get any special update here, just the downforce and the wing level for this kind of circuit. We took a lot of wing off yesterday and spent most of the time basically balancing the car between the high-speed section and the mid-speed section which normally requires more downforce. The car has been more or less competitive. We made a little change on the car set-up this morning which went in the right direction for better handling and better traction and it is looking pretty good for tomorrow because I spent most of the weekend on race fuel and only qualified on low fuel. I am very happy.
Q: Quite a few of you came in after one lap of Q3 to change tyres. Was there a difference in tyre wear?
JT: It was just a question of limiting time. We couldnt do two runs. We were only able to do one proper run, so as everybody did, we went out with a set of used tyres just to check the balance and come in for new tyres and do two flying laps.
Q: It was the same thing with you Nick?
NH: Yes. The problem here is that the circuit is so long and you didnt have enough time.
Q: Having finished six times in 11th, you must be very pleased with third?
NH: Yes, definitely I am. Before I was joking with my number one mechanic. He did show me three and for me it was clear that we would make it into Q3 anyway. I thought that was what he meant. Then I asked him ‘do you mean position three or Q3. Then he laughed and said both and it was great that we managed to be there.
Q: And some new bits on the car here as well?
NH: Yeah, we have a couple of small updates but nothing major. A bigger one is planned for Singapore. I think one reason why its a bit more mixed here is that its a completely different track. Its the first time that weve used the medium downforce package. Up to this point weve usually stuck on the car what weve found but here thats probably why it looks completely different.
Q: And yesterday you said you still had some set-up work to do; presumably that went well this morning?
NH: Yes. Actually, I think from the end of P2 until now we made good progress. We made changes overnight all of which we kept, and then this morning we made another couple of changes and it went pretty smoothly. Of course, from time to time we have traffic, thats a problem especially in Q1, thats what happened. In Q2, I wasnt happy with the set of tyres. We all know that sometimes there are small differences, so I was convinced that Q3 could be quite good.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Marco DeglInnocenti - La Gazzetta dello Sport) Giancarlo, until yesterday it seems that you were dreaming of driving for Ferrari in the last two races. Has that changed something…
NH: Youd better stay where you are, no?
GF: Oh yeah, its always a dream for all drivers in Formula One, I think, and even in the other categories, to drive for Ferrari. Its a dream, especially for an Italian driver like me. So far its still a dream and considering todays result, I need to think about that if they are going to call me. Im just concentrating on Force Indias season, on tomorrows race and then we will see. I dont want to think anything about the next race, if I am there or at Force India, but I have a contract with Force India and I have had no contact with Ferrari.
Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association) Giancarlo, congratulations. Obviously its an astonishing performance but is any part of today a show to try and help you get that drive with Ferrari?
GF: I have no idea. I know that Luca (Badoer) is last again today and he had an accident but that doesnt mean anything. Hes still learning and for sure, my result is something that is incredible with a Force India. Its a great day. As I told you, I want to do the best and just be concentrated on tomorrows race.
Q: (Istvan Simon - Autopiac) Giancarlo, do you remember when your first pole position was?
GF: My first pole position was in Austria 1998, yes, it was wet; a long time ago.
Q: (Marco Evangelisti - Corriere dello Sport) Giancarlo, your team is supposed to have financial trouble for next year. Can this kind of result help the team to go on and what about your own career?
GF: Well yes, there are a lot of rumours about that but for sure being on pole helps any team, so I hope its a good help. Our budget is limited compared to most of the other teams but we are doing well. Everything is going well, there is no problem to go ahead. And about my future, its too early to say. I didnt have any contact with other teams and I still havent spoken to Force India about next year but today is something that is good to go ahead for the future. I would still like to be a Formula One driver in the future, but obviously I need a car to be competitive, like today.
Q: (Balazs Vajta - Autosport Es Formula) This is a question for all three drivers: for tomorrow, do you prefer a wet or dry race, and did you take that into consideration with your fuel loads in qualifying?
NH: I would definitely prefer wet conditions. I enjoy driving in the wet; although Im starting P3, it would be nice. No, we didnt take it into consideration for the fuel level. It would have been even more important for downforce level. As I tried yesterday on low downforce, I tried the dry set-up, I was nowhere. You put a little downforce on the car and suddenly it works. We had a small forecast for rain maybe in qualifying which just appeared an hour before qualifying, but we stuck to what we planned and no, we dont think it will rain.
GF: Well, in my case, considering today its going to be better if its dry tomorrow, even if yesterday in wet conditions, from what we see, I was the quickest, so in any case I would be happier.
JT: Well, we planned a dry race and weve been running mainly in dry conditions, so we prefer to go on dry.
Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association) Jarno, obviously Toyota have waited such a long time for that first victory. How would you assess your chances going into tomorrow now?
JT: I will just go out and try to do my best. I know that we can win the race and I will really be pushing very, very hard because we need this win, the team needs it.
Q: (Marco DeglInnocenti - La Gazzetta dello Sport) Jarno and Nick, we know that Sauber still want to race, and there are also some rumours about the future of Toyota, so how do you think that your performance and your race tomorrow at Spa could influence your near future?
NH: Well, I think its always important to show a good performance. For sure, people look at the performance you do at the moment but you know we have both been in Formula One long enough and we have both fought against very competitive drivers and I think I can speak for both of us, we did beat quite a lot of the good guys who are still in Formula One now. So it can only help. Im very confident for next season anyway, as I said before, both in talks with other teams before BMW decided to pull out. What I hope more is that this result will help the team to survive for next season. As I said, BMW is pulling out but it doesnt mean that the Sauber guys in Hinwil will stop. We are all working very hard to secure the future for them.
JT: Well, regarding the situation with the team, obviously a win or a good result will definitely help everyone, everyone in the team for a decision for next year. So far Im not aware of whats going on with Toyota but for sure they are keen to stay if they can win races and they can be competitive but as you all know, its a deciding moment because in the economic situation they cannot take any decision on the future budget. But we definitely need a good result, especially for the team because I stand by all my mechanics and engineers working in the team with their families etc. They also need a job for next year, so I will go for it tomorrow.
Q: (Ottavio Daviddi - Tuttosport) A question to both Italian drivers: apart from these results, I dont think this is a good moment for Italian drivers in Formula One. I mean there are no younger drivers coming in etc. Do you think this result can change the situation?
JT: Its a crazy season, to be honest. If you look at the season, it changes at every race and sometimes we see competitive cars being slow from one session to another or from one race to another. Its hard to understand whats going on. Its also harder to get a feeling of what will happen. One thing that is certain is that there is a lot of uncertainty in Formula One at the moment, in the teams and in the drivers market. Its like that and you just have to play it by ear. We are out there to do our best and we will do it for us and for our team and eventually we will see.
GF: You know last race we didnt get through Q3 and this race we are first and second. It depends on the car, the situation. I think we show many times how good we are and we have been in Formula One since 1997,1998, so I think we are good enough to be good, to win. It depends on the situation, it depends on the car, thats all.
Q: (Joris Fioriti - AFP) Jarno, youve had lots of ups and downs this season; Nick, youve had a season way beyond your expectations and Giancarlo, you are definitely coming out of nowhere, so is tomorrow going to be the day when you are going to take your revenge, all three of you?
JT: Its not a question of revenge, we are out there tomorrow to try to do our best for us and for the team and obviously a podium finish for all three would be a good position, definitely. For me, I think I have another goal, because a podium wont be enough, especially to make the Japanese happy. They want to win and I want to give them a win and this is all Im thinking about, so I will try really hard.
NH: The same: its nothing to do with revenge. As we all know in Formula One, sometimes, unfortunately, its all about the car. You can believe that all three of us here didnt perform very differently from the beginning of the season, we are the same drivers but the cars just suit the circuit here better, obviously. You always try to do the best, no matter if youre fighting for tenth or first.
GF: At the beginning of the season, in testing, we were 1.8s/2.0s slower than the leaders and I was quite sad about that, because I was not so confident to have a development like that. Through the season we made a big step forward, they did a fantastic job: today we are on pole. Its just amazing. As I told you, the car is very important, you need to be lucky, to have a lucky day. Today everything has gone perfectly. In the last race the problem was in the last run and I was 16th but it was possible to get through, even into the top ten. You need to be lucky and focused.
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