Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull
2010 Qualifying - 1st, 2010 Race - DNF
“We know what it feels like to start the season in Australia, it’s a special place with a special track - It’s one of the few cities that lives Formula One for the week, so I’m looking forward to it. It has been an exciting winter and the time around Christmas was important to calm down, but since February we have been back in the rhythm. It’s nice to look back at last year and at what we achieved but we’re all looking forward now and focusing on the new car and season. It all starts from zero again; we’re excited, we’ve had enough of testing now and we want to go racing again.”
Mark Webber, Red Bull
2010 Qualifying - 2nd, 2010 Race - 9th
“As an Australian I’m looking forward to Melbourne being the first race. We’ve done a huge amount of testing and a lot of work has gone into the cars - now we’ll put them through their paces at Albert Park and lots of questions will be answered. It’s going to be an eventful weekend, especially as the weather can be a bit hit and miss. We’ll learn a lot about the tyres, which will play a key role. I hope I can improve my luck there, as it hasn’t been incredible since since my first GP in ‘02. I hope to get my best result and there’s every indication we can do that. This is the best winter we’ve had - let’s hope we can carry it on into this event.”
Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
2010 Qualifying - 3rd, 2010 Race - 4th
“Finally, the moment has arrived! I was so impatient to get to the first race and the postponement of the Bahrain Grand Prix made the wait even longer. Yes, it did give the engineers more time to prepare and it meant the work could be done with less haste, but for us drivers, and I think the same applies to all my colleagues, the desire to go racing again is very strong.
“It was a very busy winter. We have covered so many kilometres in testing and have shown that we have reached a good level of reliability, which is always important. There are reasons to be optimistic, even if we cannot really be sure where we are compared to the others. At the last test, in Barcelona, we introduced a significant number of updates and here in Melbourne we have also brought a newer version of the front wing. We will see if it delivers the expected results, even if I think we will need three or four races to get a clear picture of the situation.
“I won here in 2006 and made it to the podium a further three teams, so let’s hope we can repeat that. It was here ten years ago, that I first set out on the Formula One path. I have spent twenty six of my twenty nine years behind a steering wheel, controlling four wheels and ten of those, the best of them, have been spent in the blue riband category. I never would have thought that things would have turned out this way and I have achieved so much more than I had hoped for when I was little. Now I want to continue and for a long time too, trying to have even better years in the future!”
Felipe Massa, Ferrari
2010 Qualifying - 5th, 2010 Race - 3rd
“It’s time to go! I’m ready to race and I think the whole team is well prepared after doing so many laps over all the days of winter testing, even more than we had planned in the end. The car appears to be reliable, but this is not enough on its own as the car needs to be quick too. For the moment, reliability has been good and I don’t think we can complain about performance, but we won’t have a clear picture until all the teams are together on track in Melbourne.
“I’m happy to be starting the season in Australia, although I am also disappointed not to be going to Bahrain from a racing point of view. I really liked going there, as the track seemed to suit me very well and also the team, because Ferrari has won so many races there. But, when you build an F1 car, you build it to be good at every track, so wherever the championship starts you have to go there thinking of the victory and I will be concentrating on doing my best in Melbourne, even if the Albert Park circuit has not been a very successful venue for me, or a lucky one, as I’ve had a few accidents there.
“Last year was better as I got my best ever result here finishing third on the podium. I hope this time we can have a great start to the season in Australia and I am optimistic about our chances, based on the reliability we have shown so far and I can’t wait for us to measure up against the other teams and see where we stand.”
Jenson Button, McLaren
2010 Qualifying - 4th, 2010 Race - 1st
“In the past, I’d always travelled to Melbourne full of positive energy and enthusiasm. But, at the moment, my heart is with the people of Japan as they struggle to come to terms with the scope of the terrible devastation and loss of life wreaked by last week’s earthquake and tsunami. While the prospect of a Formula One race seems to pale in the face of such a disaster, there have been occasions before when the healing power of sport can actually be beneficial; an escape for people. So I go to Melbourne this weekend resolving to not only try my best, but also to salute the brave people, and my many friends, throughout Japan.
“Albert Park has been good to me: I’ve won there for the past two seasons; it’s a great circuit for racing, it always seems to create unpredictable races and, perhaps because it’s habitually at the start of the season when a precise pecking order has yet to be established, we often see fast cars running out of sequence - and the excitement that that brings. With the added issue of multiple tyre stops, it could be a very exciting and unpredictable race weekend. I’m regularly being asked if I can make it three wins in a row this year. On paper that might not look likely, but, seriously, who knows? I most definitely wouldn’t rule it out.”
Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP
2010 Qualifying - 6th, 2010 Race - 5th
“I love visiting Australia and Melbourne is one of the most chilled-out cities on the calendar so it’s a cool venue for the first race of the season. I’m travelling out early to get acclimatised to the time zone and am looking forward to training by the beach and relaxing in St Kilda in the evenings. The Australian fans are so enthusiastic which is great to see and it makes the atmosphere around Albert Park very special. The circuit holds some great memories for me from achieving my first podium here in 2008, and I have finished in the points in the last four races.
“We’re in good shape. The team and car have progressed a lot over the winter, we’re pleased with the performance from our upgrades and the car is handling well. Our aim is to make a good step forward from last season and I am confident that we will be able to achieve this.”
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