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Disappointed at Brundles racist comment about Kobi at the start of the formation lap though.
Disappointed at Brundles racist comment about Kobi at the start of the formation lap though.
What did he say?
Disappointed at Brundles racist comment about Kobi at the start of the formation lap though.
What did he say?
J/K, it was just an unfortunate choice of words from Brundle.
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR
Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian, could you describe your manoeuvre at the start of the race? Jenson said that it was not so fair.
SV: I just spoke to him. He expressed his feelings. Initially I wasn’t sure where he was, I didn’t really see him. I thought he was either on the right or he was far away on the left. I saw Lewis and I thought I had a good start and kept moving to the right, looking for him. By the time I saw him, I realised that maybe I was a little bit too far to the right and then he was backing off. Obviously no intention to put him in any danger but I think we can run with two wheels on the grass, can’t we Fernando?
JB: Did you think I was Fernando?
SV: No, no, I said we can race with two wheels on the grass, and then I said Fernando. Obviously, as I said, I didn’t want to put him in danger but I think we have to race each other hard and I thought it was a shame… at the end, I thought we were all getting together again and maybe have another fight. For a moment, I was thinking that maybe the victory was not out of my hands, which it looked like going into the last stint, but yeah, it was close. It would have been fun if it had continued for another five or ten laps.
JB: I probably would have struggled with another five laps.
SV: That’s why!
Q: (Joris Fioriti - Agence France Presse) Jenson, I may have been mistaken, but when I saw you on the podium you were not really overwhelmed with joy. I thought that you were at the same time happy to win, but very disappointed to lose the title. Did I imagine that or is that the way you feel?
JB: I was really surprised to lose the title today, yeah! I think I had given up on that quite a long time ago. I was very happy on the podium, maybe just the way I express my feelings isn’t as obvious as maybe I think.
SV: Maybe you were still exhausted, you had to run down from the pit lane.
JB: I had to run the whole pit lane. For some reason, I seem to do that quite a lot: parking in the wrong place and running down. I’ve never realised how uphill the pit lane is as well. Amazing. But no, I was very happy, ecstatic, this is a very special race to win, as Seb knows for the last couple of years, not just because of the layout but because of the history here and also, as I said before, the crowd here. So a very special victory; it’s obviously not as big as Seb winning the World Championship today but winning a race like this does take a little bit of time to sink in. I remember when I won the World Championship, immediately it was a strange feeling, it was like: what am I supposed to feel right now? And it takes a little bit of time. It normally comes when you’re on your own and you can really think about what you have achieved. I’m sure Seb’s going to look forward to that tonight or about five or six in the morning.
SV: Oh no. Afternoon.
Q: (Frederic Ferret - L’Equipe) Fernando, now Seb is the youngest two time World Champion; you’ve lost that title. What does it mean to you now?
FA: Really nothing special. I think now we will see who is the youngest three time World Champion.
JB: I’m feeling the odd one out here, I’m feeling uncomfortable.
SV: Did you notice that Michael is the youngest seven time World Champion - ever!
JB: Really? Wow. Is he? That surprises me. He’s also the oldest racing driver in F1.
SV: No. No. Not.
Q: (Paolo Ianieri - La Gazzetta dello Sport) One year later, Sebastian, what’s going through your head? Last year was perhaps a surprise at that last race; is it any different this year?
SV: Every year… I think every race is different. I wouldn’t say last year was a surprise. That’s what we were fighting for and even if the odds weren’t looking too good, we kept believing. Even the year before I remember very, very well the moment in Brazil, probably as well as Jenson does. It’s not a nice feeling, knowing that you lose the title, so but it’s always these important moments that you remember, the good and the bad and in particular the bad because I think you are able to learn so much from the times that you are being beaten in a way. But the funny thing this year is that next week there is the next race, so that’s a bit difficult to understand. I think all year we tried very, very hard to keep our feet on the ground and always tried to focus on the next step, on the next race which, I think, in the end, if there was any, was one of the secrets. Last year, after the chequered flag it was all over, there was a long period of time when you weren’t in the car again etc, so it’s a bit different this year, and it makes it even more special in a way. So I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the season. We have a great car, a great team, and obviously we use everything we have to make the next step and do well or perform well at the next race. It does take some time to understand and I think those quiet moments that I will have, at some point, either tonight, tomorrow or the next week or weeks, for myself, but also with people who are very close to me, to take time and let things sink in a little bit.
Q: (Sarah Holt - BBC Sport) Seb, you’ve almost answered my question because I was going to say it’s been a long time since we’ve had the championship won with four races left to go. Do you think…
SV: It’s probably Michael, I think he won half of his championships…
JB: Bloody Germans!
SV: What exactly do you mean?
Q: (Sarah Holt - BBC Sport) Do you think in some ways we should read that your championship this year was easier than it was last year, and for all three of you, how are going to race now that the championship has been won? Will it be free-er, how is your attitude different now?
SV: I think that it’s very likely for people to draw the wrong conclusion, to say that we had a very easy run this year. Things like this, they happen for a reason; I strongly believe that, not because things were easy for us. We had a very, very good car, no doubt, but we had an even stronger team, and as I said, a couple of times already, I think the car this year was less dominant than the car last year. Last year we had so many races where sometimes you may say we were unlucky but we made stupid mistakes as well. We did things which cost us a lot of time and cost us a lot of points in the end. A championship is not one race, it’s a lot of races pulled together and I think that’s where the difference came from this year. Obviously, after a very good start to the season, if you are on a good run, and you have this certain momentum and you’re able to keep that momentum, by not allowing yourself to start to fly or think too far ahead, really just stay present and just stay at that moment and focus race by race, and not thinking anything else. If you are able to keep that momentum that way, I think it makes you very strong and if you are on that sort of wave, then things might come a bit easier to you but it doesn’t mean that they are easy. So all in all, I think there was a lot to learn again this year, and hopefully that made us stronger for the remainder of the season, in which I think the approach will be very similar. Obviously a lot of the pressure has fallen away but nonetheless, there is a lot of pressure on us, because naturally we want to win, we want to beat those guys. We didn’t do so today so obviously we are over the moon to wrap up the championship today but we didn’t win today, so we’ve got another chance in the next races and we want to use those chances. It’s about using the opportunities you have, rather than seeing what could go wrong.
JB: Hopefully (we will race) exactly the same.
SV: So you’re always going to park just after the chequered flag?
JB: Yeah. I might not lift off next time you pull across at the start though.
SV: That means I’m on pole, so that’s good.
Q: (Carlos Miguel - La Gaceta) Fernando, during the race, in the car, did you really believe you could win, and is it really possible to finish second in the championship?
FA: In the race, I never thought about victory, if I’m completely honest with you. I only had a small possibility, maybe five or six laps from the end, when Jenson was dropping back a little bit and we closed the gap. Then I thought maybe if we were close enough maybe two laps or one lap from the end I could use the DRS and maybe have a chance, but I knew that it was difficult, but during the race, no, no time to think.
And second place in the championship. It’s nice to be second, better than fourth or fifth, but as I said on Thursday, I prefer a win and finish fifth in the championship than finish in second not winning one of the remaining races. Hopefully we can do one of those two things, either second or win a race but probably it will be difficult to win a race and will be difficult to be second so that’s the worst combination, but it’s very possible as well.
All I remember was them mentioning about him preying?
Now that the pressure is off for the championship, I'm looking forward to some balls out hairy arsed racing in the remaining races.
Now that the pressure is off for the championship, I'm looking forward to some balls out hairy arsed racing in the remaining races.
Not sure the stewards will like balls out hairy arsed racing.
Now that the pressure is off for the championship, I'm looking forward to some balls out hairy arsed racing in the remaining races.
Not sure the stewards will like balls out hairy arsed racing.
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