Question: Fernando, the best qualifying for you and Ferrari since China. Do you feel you are coming back now and have you got the pace to challenge tomorrow?
Fernando Alonso: I think we did improve the car, no doubts in Valencia. Canada was good as well. We continue to develop the car to perform better and better. We had some downs around Barcelona and Turkey Grand Prix but now I think we are improving the car. We feel more comfortable now and we are performing better now. I think we had very strong races in Canada and Valencia. We didn’t score the points we wanted because different conditions happened to us through the race but I think here we are again strong. We are competitive and hopefully tomorrow we will finish the job and we will score some good points for the team. We need the points tomorrow.
Question: You said you were going to be second with McLaren, Renault and Mercedes. But you are obviously well ahead of the other two teams.
Fernando Alonso: Yes, it was a good weekend for us so far. We are as competitive as we were in Canada and Valencia. I think those two tracks were not a perfect suit for Red Bull cars, so we had a little opportunity there to fight with them. Here going back to these high-speed corners we knew Red Bull were strongest, the favourites, and we thought to have a tight battle with McLaren, Mercedes. If you see the qualifying times it is quite tight at the end. McLarens are there close to us and I think Renault and (Nico) Rosberg as well between me and Felipe (Massa), so I think it is mixed as always.
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Question: But you must have been encouraged by the step you seem to have taken forward here?
Fernando Alonso: Definitely. I think we need to improve the car. In the last two or three grands prix we have made some modifications to the car. We went through a tough time around the Spanish Grand Prix, Turkey. After that we did improve the car and we’re getting back to the level we wanted, to the level we were at in the first four grands prix, always fighting for podiums. Canada, I was fourth on the grid, third in the race; in Valencia I was third on lap 12 when the safety car came out. I think we are similar. We are starting third tomorrow, so the performance is more or less the same as the last two or three grands prix. We just need to capitalise on the potential and tomorrow to score the points we didn’t score in the last two races.
Question: Fernando, you have performed quite well today but the Red Bulls are still a step ahead of your car. Is winning possible tomorrow?
Fernando Alonso: As you said, we are happy with the position, it’s more or less where we expected to be, fighting with McLaren, Mercedes and Renault. Luckily we are in front of them, so it means that we did a good job today and the car improvements that we brought here to Silverstone seem to work fine, so we’re definitely happy with the team but on the other hand, as you said, we need to keep improving. We want to win races, maybe at the moment we are not in a position to do that, especially at this type of circuit, but I remain very calm. There are ten races to go in the championship and we want to win in November. There will be some circuits better for them, some circuits where we may have a chance, so let’s always try to do the maximum. If there is the possibility of a podium tomorrow, a better possibility to win, possibility to do anything, let’s try to take any possibility.
Question: A football question for Fernando: what’s your opinion on the Spanish team and the final tomorrow?
Fernando Alonso: I think it’s a great opportunity for us, for our country. For the first time in history our football team has got to the semi-final, for the first time in history we have got to the final, so let’s try to capitalise on this opportunity, just in case we have to wait another forty or fifty years to get here again. I think they have played very well, they deserve to get to the final, so this is the last step. So good luck to them and try to make people happy.
Question: Fernando, what was the real difference without traffic problems, between you and Red Bull? And the other question is what is more possible, you winning or Spain?
Fernando Alonso: I think the difference is more or less what we see, it’s a combination of the average from Q1, Q2, Q3. They’ve been one and two in Q1, one and two in Q2 and then in Q3 as well, so they are dominating the Grand Prix with no problems but, as I said before, there are some differences from circuit to circuit. We saw in Valencia it was not so clear. We also saw in Canada that it was not so clear. We saw McLaren were very strong in Turkey. So I think it will change from weekend to weekend from now until the final race. As for the second question, I think it’s easier that the football team wins tomorrow.
Question: Fernando, Felipe, said that he couldn’t get his tyres up to the optimum temperature on his car during qualifying. Did you have any issues on this matter?
Fernando Alonso: No, not really. It was OK for me.
Question: Fernando, we saw you complaining to (Rubens) Barrichello in the last run. What happened?
Fernando Alonso: No, it was Michael (Schumacher). It was Michael. Nothing really. I lost time, definitely. I was improving my time and he slowed down to get a last opportunity, last chance, so I had Michael (ahead of me) in the last two corners, ten meters in front of me, so I lost half-a-tenth for whatever. As I said before, I didn’t have any complaints or any problems because it changed nothing for me in terms of position, so it’s all OK.
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