Question: Lewis, third place in the current climate I am sure was exactly what you were hoping for. But you were pushing very hard and made a slight error into turn 10 that may have flat-spotted one of your tyres. Can that be a concern for the race?
Lewis Hamilton: No, I don’t think it will. I do have a slight flat spot but fortunately I can start on those tyres and we can rebalance the wheel so it shouldn’t be a problem for the race. But, no, very happy with today’s result. Obviously you can see the gap between ourselves and the Red Bulls has increased. However, we have improved this weekend so the guys have been working extremely hard. Fortunate just to stay ahead of the Ferrari. That was very close.
Question: Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race. We have seen more overtaking in 2011 and this track could be the acid test for the new regulations. Do you think your race pace is good enough to keep with Sebastian and Mark?
Lewis Hamilton: No. No. They have got a second in qualifying, probably a second and a bit. But we will push as hard as we can. Obviously we have got to push to the amount where you also save your tyres through the run. We have been closer in the previous races so I anticipate we will be much closer than one second but whether or not it’s within a tenth or so we will wait and see.
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Question: Lewis, Fernando Alonso was very close at the end there. Was that a surprise for you?
Lewis Hamilton: Not really. We knew they were going to be quick. When we looked in Q2 they didn’t look to be that close then all of a sudden in Q3 they were a lot closer. But it doesn’t matter now. It is the pace we have in the race and it is going to be interesting how close we are and if we are able to stay ahead of them.
Question: You have been quite a critic of the harder tyres. What are they going to be like to race on?
Lewis Hamilton: I think on that side of things I really was just joking. It was a bit of a disaster to drive yesterday with the balance of the car that I had and I think everyone was struggling to switch on the tyres. If you look at the season so far Pirelli have done an incredible job really. I think we have all underestimated how good a job they would have done and when we got to the first race the tyres were fantastic. These tyres, the super hard, isn’t as good as the hard tyre that we had previously but hopefully tomorrow they will go longer, which will still allow exciting racing. I did say it was a disaster, but I was really referring to the balance of my car and I think they are pretty good.
Question: Was there more time in the car this afternoon?
Lewis Hamilton: No, that was as fast as it was going to go. We made some changes going into qualifying with the set-up, which was the wrong change basically, and the car was quite a bit worse in qualifying than it was in P3. But you are stuck with it and you have to go through qualifying and the race with it but it would only be maybe a tenth or two if you were to improve the set-up. But I did the best I could with it and the team, as always, did a great job getting us out in good gaps so I am looking forward, hopefully, to a good battle, at least for the first 100metres with the Red Bulls. After that with whoever is behind.
Question: Lewis, was it actually possible for you to go through the last corner with the wing open?
Lewis Hamilton: No. Mark was just explaining that even though he’s got the wing engaged, it’s not that it’s too easy, but for us, we’re flat out without the wing engaged and it’s quite difficult. A slight difference in downforce but that’s actually good because it gives an indication of how much downforce they have, considering you generally lose 30 points or something when you engage the wing, something of that magnitude.
Question: Lewis, it looked as if on your last outing you flat-spotted the left front tyre. Is it as bad as in Malaysia, or can you count on that tyre tomorrow?
Lewis Hamilton: No, nowhere near as bad as Malaysia. Malaysia wasn’t really too bad, but we were overly cautious - or the engineers were overly cautious going into the race. But no, there’s no way that they could put me on another set of tyres for tomorrow. They think the tyres will be fine, we just need to re-balance them a little bit. That’s one of the limitations of our car. Since I’ve been in the team we’ve always had lock-ups - it almost as if other teams look as if they have ABS brakes, because they never lock up like we do. But it’s something that we’re trying to improve and it is much, much better this year. But yeah, when you’re trying to eke every little bit out of the car, you sometimes happen to lock the front wheel. I did, but hopefully it won’t impede my race tomorrow.
Question: Lewis, if these guys get away cleanly tomorrow and don’t have a problem in the race, do you see any way that you can get ahead of them?
Lewis Hamilton: Ah, I’ve just been thinking about it. The old circuit is still there, the last two corners so I could maybe use the last two corners and then I will be able to match their pace maybe, if I don’t take the chicane. But otherwise, no.
Question: And if Sebastian’s KERS isn’t working, for some reason, at the start, do you think you can get him there and get one place?
Lewis Hamilton: It’s always possible. Our KERS seems to work quite well. It’s always possible to overtake if he doesn’t have it, but then without a doubt he will be on my tail for quite some time and eventually find his way past, I’m sure.
Question: Is it despondent, is there despondency when you see two guys as fast as they are, that you will be in a separate race, won’t you?
Lewis Hamilton: No. You know, Formula One, as Mark was saying, is the pinnacle of motor sport and nothing comes easy. At the moment, they’ve just done a better job and every single team is trying their hardest to catch up and we’re second quickest at the moment, so we can’t complain too much. I just hope that at some stage we can find a significant improvement in the car in terms of downforce, that we can have a proper race with these guys.
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