Question: Fernando, have you found KERS useful this year and can you envisage not using it?
Fernando Alonso: I don’t know to be honest. I think some races it helps, some others not much. We are also happy with our system. We have not had big problems, only in Malaysia I think when it was that amount of water we had some issues. But we are happy with the system but as Nick said it is difficult to simulate or calculate the lap time advantage especially on some circuits, so it is something that we need a little bit more time.
Question: Looking at this circuit you won from pole in 2006. You have been on the podium another three times. Obviously it is your home circuit. Is it a circuit that you like as well?
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, I like it. Obviously we all test a lot here in the winter time and we all know the circuit quite well, so it is not a big advantage for me to be at a home track as it is like a home track for everybody. It is a very special race for me. The atmosphere here is quite good and the support from the grandstand I can really feel it. Every year we come here it is something special and this year I think it will be the same. The whole team is doing 120 per cent every race but here 130 percent as it is good for everybody, also the mechanics, everyone in the team is quite well supported here.
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Question: Pat Symonds says he has been disappointed so far. Is it the same with you?
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, I think when we finished winter testing in Jerez we were quite optimistic. All winter we have been more or less competitive. We knew in terms of pace and lap time what the others were doing and we were very comfortable with our pace and with our car. The balance of the car was good. We did not have big problems, so we arrived in Australia really convinced that we were ready to fight for podium positions and things like that and it was not the case, so it was some kind of surprise how competitive some other teams were in Australia. We knew that Brawn were quick in the last two tests but Red Bull, Williams, we really thought that they were behind us. We started improving the car from Australia. We introduced a new package in China, some new parts also in Bahrain, some new parts here as well. We try to catch up but as Pat said I think we were expecting a little bit more from the first four races, so only five points are not enough for the championship battle.
Question: Last year Jenson Button was at the back of the field and this year he is the big favourite for the title. Does this mean that the championship is only decided by mechanical possibilities; that the driver is not important? What do you think?
Fernando Alonso: I think the championship is the same as last year or the last ten years. I don’t think Jenson was the worst driver last year when he was fighting for the last positions because he’d been quite competitive throughout his career and in 2004 he was always fighting for podium finishes, finishing third in the World Championship, I think, so Jenson has always been competitive. This year, finally, he has the right car and he’s proving that he’s also able to fight for race wins and championships. I’m happy for him. We all know that Formula One is about the whole package: the team, the car, the driver, the engineers, luck. Many factors can help you win a race or win a championship. We all respect each other here. I think between us, we are all good drivers, we are all competitive people and sometimes we know that some of us have the right car and some of us have problems and you need to work hard to make your car or your team competitive enough to win championships.
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