Question: Maybe your girlfriend will turn up tomorrow Lewis to give you a helping hand. Third on the grid, but you only went out for one run in Q3. Was that, looking back to Malaysia, a result of what happened there where you flat-spotted one of your tyres or what was the reason behind it?
Lewis Hamilton: The reason behind it was clearly the last race showed how important it is to have fresh tyres during the race. Obviously we would have a used option if we are doing a three stop. In the last race I only had two options I could use and then I had a new prime and an old prime. I wanted to make sure I had plenty of fresh tyres so we are in quite a strong position. I have got the options I just qualified on, a new set of options and a new set of primes and a very decent set of options again. Just tried to increase the chances for the race as that is where it actually counts.
Question: Lewis, not so happy with the car yesterday, what about today?
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, pretty much the same as Jenson. We made some changes and it seemed to go quite well today, so much happier with the car throughout qualifying.
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Question: There have been new parts on the car, I understand it’s a combination of what you’ve already been running and the new parts as well.
Lewis Hamilton: We haven’t made much of a step this weekend but a step is a step so it’s a positive at least, and we’re quite happy with where we are. Obviously we need to make some more steps forward but I think there are some good things in the pipeline.
Question: Is the tyre strategy fairly simple for you now, looking at last weekend and three weeks ago as well, or is it still very much a mystery?
Lewis Hamilton: The strategy is quite simple but obviously the race is never simple: you have the start, you have all the stops that you need to do, you have to look after the tyres and so it’s going to be very tricky again tomorrow but I really wanted to put myself in a decent spot, and I feel I am in a decent spot, and in a position to really have a good opportunity in the race because I didn’t really have the best opportunity in the last race and that’s what caused the result.
Question: Lewis, how motivated can you be knowing that doing your best you can only finish seven tenths behind Sebastian Vettel? He seems to be unreachable; he’s been like this for the first two races and it might keep on being like this for a long time.
Lewis Hamilton: We’re doing our best to catch up, you know? It’s encouraging for us to have been on the first and second row for the first three races, considering where we were in winter testing. I think we’re happier than we could have ever have hoped at this point of the year. It’s clear, since God knows when, since 2009, that they’ve had a ridiculously fast car, a great job done by the team and Sebastian and so we are pushing as hard as we can to close the gap. It is possible but I’m sure it will take several races, probably, before we get to where they are now, but I’m sure they will also make many, many steps forward, so we will continue in the chase, and hope that our development rate can be as fast as theirs, if not better.
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