Q. Luca di Montezemolo has been talking a lot about third cars. Can I have your views on third cars; from the Ferrari point of view, how easy it is to do it, and from everybody else based on whether you think it's a good idea, strategically, for Formula 1?
CK: For me, two (cars) are enough. We wouldn't do three cars. I think doing three cars is more for the top teams. We are not in a position to run three cars.
PS: Now we are 12 teams, I don't think it's necessary to bring three cars. If you go down to seven teams, it could be necessary.
VM: I'm obviously concerned with the number of cars on the grid. At certain tracks, I personally feel that the number of cars we currently have are perhaps a tad too much, or too many. But I'm not opposed to the idea of a third car at all. The incremental cost of building and running a third car is not that great, so if the need arises, we're quite happy to do it.
AC: I don't know what to comment, really. I think Mr. Montezemolo's proposal was done in case there were not many cars on the grid, so big teams would have been available to run three cars. That's what he thinks. I'm convinced that with a good notice period we can do it, not this year. It would not be possible for us to run three cars, not even next year, because with the current resource restrictions we are running with minimal spares, with very few chassis. I think all teams will be obliged to do that, so overnight we could not run a third car. If we were well programed, yes, we are keen and available.
Q. Just to follow up on that, the FIA made a statement about licenses for leading members of teams. How do you feel about being licensed to the FIA, and Vijay, how do you feel about licensing yourself?
VM: I was part of the discussion at the World Council on the whole issue of licensing. I think this has all come about arising out of some recent judgments whether the FIA has authority to impose penalties on people involved in Formula 1. If they are licensed by the FIA, then the FIA has some jurisdictional control. We do nothing wrong, we come here to race, we race cleanly, we race according to the sporting regulations. I don't care if I have to be licensed, I'm quite happy to be licensed.
AC: I do not have a strong opinion on this.
CK: To be honest with you, if the FIA decides I have to be licensed I'm happy with that. I have no issue.
PS: Yeah, the same for me.
Q. There's been a lot of movement of technical staff recently. Aldo, you've hired a deputy technical director (Pat Fry). Can you tell me what a deputy technical director actually does and is there any truth to the rumors that Nikolas Tombazis is going somewhere else?
AC: When we knew that Pat was free and was looking around for a new challenge, we spoke with him and with other teams as well, because from what we knew, he had quite a lot of contacts and we arrived at a final agreement which for me was very, very good. Pat has got huge experience and I think he can join us and help us to have a stronger team. He's not coming to replace anyone, so it's not true that Nikolas will leave. Nikolas is a great asset of Ferrari and we want him to stay with us. So he will join the group and we will re-distribute the job between myself and my first level of engineers, having the possibility, with one more person, probably to follow the technical development in a wider and deeper way with the group of senators.
Q. Vijay, following on from that, looking from the outside, in the last few weeks you have lost quite a few people on the technical side in your team. It might look a little bit worrying, so what is the reality and what's your point of view on that?
VM: You know, the Formula 1 team is not the only organization that I run. I have several organizations across the UB Group and my mantra is very clear: nobody is indispensable. Having said that, if people decide to leave and join another team, they are welcome and free to do so and we will find suitable and equally competent individuals to replace them. It's ironical that most of them are headed to one particular team. I wish them luck.
Q. Dr. Mallya, you spoke about the Indian Grand Prix next year; you have the Indian team, the man behind you has the Indian driver. How long will we have to wait for an Indian driver in an Indian team?
VM: Let's be clear; motor sport is not that advanced in India for a variety of reasons, to throw up drivers who would ultimately reach Formula 1. We have drivers – Narain Karthikeyan, Karun Chandhok, and a couple of others, Armaan (Ebrahim), and there's a boy called Patel – they're talented drivers. Now I must decide whether they suit my requirements in Force India Formula 1 or not. I have been very fair, I've given at least one of them the opportunity in the driving simulator and I put four drivers in and I selected the best one of the lot which happened to be Paul di Resta, so it isn't as if I've got a shut mind here. But I've got to start looking for somebody really young, and as I have said to you before and to many others, amongst 1.2 billion people there's got to be a Lewis Hamilton somewhere. It's like trying to pick a needle from a haystack, but we are now going to launch a nationwide program in India to identify young talent and this is a pretty complex exercise. It involves several karting tracks all over the country, a whole organized method of getting people to enter, a competitive environment, a competitive program and then we will probably take those with exceptional talent, bring them to either England or Europe, pay for them, pay for their education, pay for their karting and literally mentor them through until they can sit in a Formula 1 cockpit, and we are absolutely committed to do that.
Q. Is that going to be a Force India driver academy, a young driver academy of some sort?
VM: Absolutely, absolutely yes.
Q. For all of you: are you watching the GP2 races and what does a GP2 driver eventually have to do to attract your attention and to be in your team eventually next year?
CK: I'm not watching only GP2 races, I'm also watching F3 races and other categories. There's always a talent around. Sebastian Vettel drove in my Formula Three car when he was 15. He never drove GP2, so you have to look not only at GP2.
AC: As you know, Ferrari has started the activity on a driver academy and actually one of the GP2 drivers, Jules Bianchi, is one of our drivers, so we look at GP2 pretty closely. We are pretty close to Jules as well.
VM: Yes, I do watch GP2 and clearly there are several drivers from GP2 who have graduated into Formula 1, so that's obviously a pool that's available to chose from. But once again, I've got a pretty good lineup of drivers now. I'm quite happy with them. They're not at the end of their careers, in fact they are at the prime of their careers. But I'd rather identify a good Indian going forward but if the need arises, then obviously GP2 or F3 is probably the most popular hunting ground, isn't it.
PS: Yes, of course, we follow most series: GP2 and GP3, but it's not so important for us because we have a rookie in Kamui (Kobayashi) and one is enough.