TV UNILATERALS
Q. Sebastian, a 10th win of the season and any thoughts that after last week's celebrations you'd start taking things easy now quickly dispersed?
Sebastian VETTEL: Well, I think it is good to see that the whole team keeps on pushing. In terms of preparation it wasn't ideal, as I think most of us were a bit tipsy after the last race after the Sunday night. But we clearly deserved that. Now to come here and after a tough Friday and tough Saturday morning to come back in qualifying and then in the race, the car was fantastic. It was so much fun to drive. The car was getting quicker and quicker. When the safety car came I didn't really need that to be honest. Lewis came closer again and I was struggling a little bit with the tires but then the car seemed to stabilise and come back and I was able to open a gap just before we had the second pit-stop and then to the end it was just fantastic. On the prime I could push when I had to and got a little bit of a gap as those guys were fighting. But it is fantastic. After last weekend the Drivers' Championship, this weekend the Constructors' Championship for the team is fantastic. Also I want to say, especially and in particular at this place, a lot of thanks to Renault. They have been pushing so hard. I think we showed as a team a lot of morale after last year when we had the engine failure here to come back and still win the championship last year. Faultless from the Renault side. The engine is working fantastically well. We are very competitive on those circuits with long straights like Monza or here again so all in all the package is fantastic. The guys are enjoying it and I think we do as well so thank you very much and I am very, very happy today.
Q. Lewis, it was fun for Sebastian but how much fun was it for you and how much did you spend looking ahead given all the pressure that was coming your way from behind?
Lewis HAMILTON: It was okay, wasn't too bad. Mark drove really well throughout the race and congratulations to Sebastian. They were massively quick throughout the weekend and particularly in the race it was impossible to really be able to catch Sebastian and overtake. Then later on in the race just really struggled. I had pretty much full lock on everywhere and was struggling with a lot of understeer but, nonetheless, it is a good weekend for me compared to what I have had in the past so I am happy.
Q. Mark, your thoughts on the battle with Lewis, which seemed to go on and on and on and somehow you couldn't quite find a place to get ahead and stay ahead.
Mark WEBBER: Yeah, well, it is the team's day today. The Constructors' is a massive thing, back-to-back. Very, very impressive from the guys and the girls. As Seb touched on, Renault as well. Reliability is faultless this year from the car, 100 per cent reliability from everyone there, with the exception of my non-finish in Monza, so it has been a phenomenal year. Disappointed not to get second today. We did a good job in the first stop and then got ourselves in good position. Obviously, the safety car was not a big deal for everyone I don't think. It obviously just brought everyone back together. But I think at the second stop we did the worst thing. We didn't stop before or stop after [Hamilton], we stopped on the same lap. That was disappointing as clearly we had some good pace to pull away from Lewis, but in the end it was a good battle all the way through. I had a good battle on the first lap as well. That's the way it was today so look forward to the next one.
Q. Sebastian, given what Mark was just staying, how difficult was it to get strategy right today? You gambled and saved a set of the harder tires in qualifying, but then decided not to use all your harder tires in the race.
SV: Yeah, we ended up stopping way less than we thought. The first couple of laps the car felt good and the balance was alright. I think for all the cars it was a little bit the same thing. We expected much more degradation, but it didn't come, and then eventually it came but much later, so you delayed the first stop, the second stop and by the time you found out you realise that you don't have to stop three times within 10 laps. It was a very good race from that side. tires and tire management wasn't easy. I think we were on top of it for most of the race, especially towards the end of the stints on the soft tire I was able to gain on Lewis. In the beginning he put quite a lot of pressure and I always wanted to stay clear of the DRS. We had quite some headwind down the long straight from turn two to turn three, where the DRS zone is as well, and I knew at the moment he would start to come into the DRS he would be very close. I was pushing hard which the tires didn't thank me in the second stint. But, fortunately, they came back and I was able to pull away at the end which was crucial to then to have a gap for the final stint and control the gap from there.
Q. Lewis, you mention a good weekend overall for yourself. The championship might not be there for you now, but how much is the rest of the season about restoring your belief in yourself that you can go out and fight for wins on a regular basis?
LH: Well I would never question my belief in myself, so that's not really something that needs doing. I have got the trust and the confidence from the team so it is really just about trying to stay out of trouble, stay out of the stewards' office and just keep my head down and hope for better results.
Q. Mark, back on the podium once again. What are your aims, your goals, for the rest of the season?
MW: Well, I think pulling off clean, perfect weekends. That's what we have got to try and achieve. Lot of positives again for me today. We know how sensitive it is around the stops and to get everything right to win. Seb had a good first lap. Looks like he got past Lewis straight away. My first lap was also pretty good, up to third, so things like that, keep boxing. Overall, a lot of positives for me. The initial reaction is a bit of disappointment, but that's normal as a competitor and I am sure I will be happy tomorrow when I wake up and look forward to the next event.
Q. Sebastian, how difficult was the strategy today as you mentioned degradation later in the race. How often does that happen?
SV: Well I think it was a little bit go out and find out. Difficult to know what to expect as we had zero experience on Friday. Saturday morning looked pretty confident. We were then trying something different in qualifying, why not, which we didn't really use today. As it turned out the options were fine for the first two stints and carried us a long way through the race. Much more than I think we all expected so we ended up fitting options again and then going for the prime and going to the end. Going into the weekend I think we were thinking about a lot of stops, but it turned out to not really be the case. tires were fine and simply lasted longer than expected and then you end up pitting less.
Q. Tell us about the start and the first lap?
SV: My start was not perfect. I think Lewis got away off the line a little bit better than I did. I had a very good launch for the formation lap, but it doesn't really help. Race start was about the same, but I think, as I said, lost out a little bit to the McLarens. Then, as I touched on before the race, a very long straight after that. A big headwind and I was able to close the gap to Lewis and focused then on the straight from turn three or four. Very late decided for the gap. Lewis was very fair going into turn four. I was right on the edge, nearly went straight. It was crucial and then I was a little bit afraid as I had really pushed hard. I knew that with the headwinds down the straight from the second to the third corner it would be very easy for the cars behind to close the gap as I would be the first one facing the wind. Once I got away in the first stint I think I was able to pull away a little bit more every lap. In the second stint I struggled a bit in the beginning and Lewis caught up and it got reasonably close. I was always afraid for him running into the DRS or being close enough to open his rear wing. I didn't want that. Fortunately then, after a little bit of a wobble and the tires starting to go off, the car seemed to stabilize and I was able to get quicker again and pull away just before we came in for the second stop.
Q. You said recently that you always wanted to go for fastest lap right at the end of the race; now you're allowed to, are you?
SV: I think they will kill me now. On the radio, they said 'you didn't get the fastest lap' which obviously isn't true, and then they came on the radio and said 'idiot, you got it.' It's really stupid. I think in other races, it doesn't really make sense but on the last lap I had a good feeling and yeah, I was pushing a bit harder to get the fastest lap. It's a small thing; it's probably more to do with the ego because there are no points so it's really stupid from my side but now I've got one, I'm happy.