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Ross Brawn Q&A

Until Kimi Raikkonen skidded off the road with just under five laps to go, nobody at Scuderia Ferrari was expecting Michael Schumacher to sew up the title at Magny-Cours. But when the chance of victory fell into his lap, the German was not going to refuse it just to postpone the party until his home race. There was a little wobble when Michael had to see the stewards about the yellow flag incident, but he got away with it. It was a fifth title not just for Schumacher, but also for technical director Ross Brawn, who has worked with the World Champion for his entire career, with the exception of 1996. Adam Cooper spoke to the Englishman



"It was very exciting. Obviously it was very tough until the first pit stop, and then we managed to just squeeze ahead, until we had a little problem with the white line! Which made a very exciting race of it. It was a tough race, and we enjoyed it a lot."



"I was speechless. We'd got to a stage where it was OK, we're not going to get it today, maybe we'll do it at the next race. And then Raikkonen fell off, and it all happened. It was unreal."



"Well, it all came out all right in the end. I think what happened is correct. It's hard for a driver to stop if the other driver goes off the road. If Kimi hadn't fallen off the road then it wouldn't have been correct, but with Kimi off the road I'm not quite sure what Michael was supposed to do."



"There was no need to, because if a driver falls off the road, then he really can't defend his position or expect not to be overtaken. If there had been a gravel trap there he would probably still have been stuck there now. What's the other driver supposed to do?"



"I didn't think so, and common sense prevailed. But you never know. The stewards saw it all very sensibly, and we're happy with their decision."



"There's still the constructors' championship of course, and we'd like Rubens to do as well as he can. We're sorry that he's having so many problems. He's such a great driver, and he's not having the best of it this year. Our priority, if there is one, is to make sure that Rubens has a fantastic finish to the season."



"There will be occasions where we'll try to particularly help Rubens. I can't imagine what they are at the moment, but we'd very much like him to have second place, and he deserves it. We'll be putting all our effort to try and make sure he does."



"I think we'll have to wait and see. It's obviously a fantastic achievement to have won the championship this early. I don't know how it's going to affect the team. We've got another six races to go, and I'm looking forward to them. If Rubens carries on driving the way he has with the car we have, then he can win some of those races, which will be great."



"That's true, we had a bit of an unfortunate circumstances with what happened. I think Michael will enjoy the rest of the season."



"It is a team, that's the whole point. As a team they enjoy what they're doing, they're a great group of people, and there are some great people looking after them, like Stefano Domenicali and Nigel Stepney. It's one of the best teams in the history of F1."



"We're working on it, we started working on it a few months ago. We've still got a few little things to do with this one before the end of the season, and another six races that we're going to try and win. Bridgestone have done a fantastic job, and we've got a new tyre coming for Hockenheim, which we tested last week and looked very, very encouraging. So life looks rosy!"

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