Thursday's Press Conference - European GP

Participating: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), Ralf Schumacher(Williams).

Q. Ralf, you won here last year, how do you feel coming here this year?

Ralf Schumacher:

Well, certainly great. It's always nice for us to be back here. It's not snowing, so it's perfect conditions. It's a bit early for Nurburgring, but it's certainly enjoyable to be back.

Q. What chances for the race?

RS:

You can never tell. It's obvious that this year it's a bit more difficult for us but we keep trying, trying to do our best and we will see what the outcome is.

Q. Now, there have been some management changes announced at Williams - how soon do you expect those to have some effect?

RS:

It will take Sam a while. I'm sure Sam will do great things within Williams but there's all the existing structure and things have to be changed. The cars are still the same so you won't turn it around overnight. It will take at least three or four races until we see some slight changes, but the biggest change will certainly be next year.

Q. You think slight changes in three or four races then?

RS:

Yes sure. The car will improve, almost certainly things are going to change, but, obviously, you have to ask Sam himself what he's going to do.

Q. What about your own future? Have you got anything to tell us?

RS:

Nope. Why? Nothing is decided yet. We are still talking, certainly still waiting for what is happening in our team and then I will see what the outcome is.

Q. Do you see the end of the road in sight, as it were?

RS:

Yes. I would consider it quite sure that I will be in Formula One, so that's not a problem, but obviously not where and I will obviously try to be in the best position.

Q. Just going back to last weekend and obviously the incident in the tunnel, how dirty off-line was it?

RS: From looking at it, it looked to be pretty dirty. There were a lot of marbles out there. As I said in Monaco, it was a shame but it wasn't my mistake, it was clearly his own mistake. To blame me - I didn't take it seriously. Obviously losing third in Monaco is not very nice but it wasn't my problem.

Q. Michael, would you have overtaken round the outside - or did you overtake round the outside - in the tunnel?

Michael Schumacher:

You sort of know, or you should know, that if you do get off-line there it gets very dirty and very tricky and especially in that place. It's easily flat out for us but there's not that much margin to go around the outside. If you see it, as well, there was a lot of space for Alonso to go further inside because Ralf was moving over very close to the barrier and he didn't need to leave that much space between him and Ralf.

Q. What about your own incident in the tunnel, to keep the tyres warm, the brakes warm and everything else must be difficult particularly when you've got the entire field behind you and they're relying on what you're doing?

MS:

Yeah, but this is the point because the guys behind rely on what the guy in front is doing, and that's what you have to watch for and I certainly wasn't watching my mirrors behind because I believed that everybody knows how to accelerate and brake and so it was a bit of a surprise for me. Seeing the pictures, if I had maybe watched in the mirrors then maybe I could have not gone on the normal line but I wasn't expecting him to be there.

Q. I suppose to some extent the one thing you don't want to do is go off-line onto the dirty side as well.

MS: This is quite true but, well, it's history. We can't change it anyway.

Q. What was your reaction to the stewards' conclusion?

MS:

I did accept it but probably did not agree one hundred percent.

Q. Is there anything further you can do about it?

MS:

I'm sure the GPDA and drivers will discuss certain issues which happened over the weekend and we'll find out how much of a conclusion can be drawn for the future.

Q. Now another story that's emerged is this possibility of Mika Hakkinen coming back. I don't know how much truth there is in it, but do you feel he could still be competitive? Does he lose anything in two years?

MS:

I think it will be difficult being completely out of Grands Prix for two years.

RS: But he's gained (suggests weight) from my understanding, hasn't he?

MS: Yeah, he gained, but apparently he's lost it all. He has this natural talent. He will always have that but to come back after a long pause and not doing anything with Formula One - even testing here and there - will be difficult. But I think a lot of people will be very happy - and I would be one of them - to see him back. He has been a great competitor. We'll find out, but obviously we're in the silly season, that's the other point!

Questions From The Floor

Q. (Peter Windsor) Michael, sorry to go back to Monaco again, but you appeared to have a very confusing weekend. You were quickest in the first four sessions and then in pre-qualifying you were two seconds slower than you had been on Saturday morning, much more than anybody else. Obviously you were out first, but I wonder if we could have your thoughts again on perhaps other people running less fuel than you'd thought at that time? And secondly, why didn't you come in when the safety car went out and you therefore effectively put yourself a pit stop behind Jarno and Jenson Button?

MS:

It's pretty easy to explain. First of all the circuit, certainly, was very, very dirty and very, very slippery, much more than anyone would have anticipated I think. Taking out the fuel would have maybe gained you one position. That's it, honestly. The fact that we didn't come in was simply a strategy decision because I still had quite a lot of fuel on board. I could have stayed out for very long and maybe get the advantage that was needed. As the pit stop is a little bit shorter this year in Monaco it was worth trying, because if I had done the same as Jarno I would certainly have been second. This way, I had an opportunity. This could have been a risk, but I had an opportunity to be first as well and if you don't try, you don't win.

Q. (Will Buxton - Metro) Michael, there's a school of thought that maybe on entering the tunnel in Monaco you had a problem with your left front suspension which is why the black tyre mark was so long even before your brakes locked up and that would have been what caused you to veer to the right. Do you have any comments on that?

MS:

Yeah. Certainly not true. I had a big problem afterwards with the left suspension, that's true! (Laughter).

Q. (Peter Windsor) Juan Pablo said that categorically from where he was on the grid Takuma Sato jumped the start and he thinks no action was taken because he (Takuma) didn't finish the race. Bearing in mind he hit you off the line, what are your thoughts on that? Secondly, he says that the reason the drama in the tunnel occurred was because he was surprised at how much you accelerated. In other words, you went through the gears and then you braked hard, but he said that was more than normal acceleration and braking. Again, could we have your comments on that?

MS:

I think Takuma was called to the stewards to have (his errors) explained and to be - whatever - done to him but I don't think he stayed in the race long enough to be penalised because they needed to study the data and it takes time them a certain time. That was the main reason, to my understanding.

Q. (Peter Windsor) But he hit you, he could have taken you out…

MS:

Yeah, but okay, still, you asked the question why nothing was done against his jump start. It just takes time. That he hit me is just another part of the question but he thought that there was enough of a gap and in a way there was, because nothing happened because I was obviously paying enough attention to move over a bit. And the second point is that had I kept accelerating I would have hit the safety car, that's another point, and at some point I have to stop. Whether I do it a bit harder or less hard that's… If you ask the drivers they will give you the opinion that it's the guy that's at the back's responsibility to make sure he doesn't hit anyone, that's very simple.

Q. (Dan Knutson - National Speedsport News) Michael, do you think you and Ferrari can bounce back from Monaco this weekend?

MS:

Yup.

Q. Let's put it another way, how do you see your chances this weekend?

MS:

Good. There's not much to say, but I believe the Nurburgring should be good for our car.

Q. (Bob Constanduros) It's been pretty cool here, is that an advantage as well?

MS:

(Ralf nods) I think anything that's very hot could become a disadvantage but I don't expect the Nurburgring to be very hot.

Q. Ralf, did you have any exchange of opinions or are you planning to have any exchange of opinions with Fernando Alonso about the incident in Monaco?

RS:

No. He had his opinion, which I understand, from his point of view. He was looking somehow to explain his accident. It was simply a bit unlucky, but the team already made an announcement about it and at the end of the day he was 15km/h, nearly 20km/h, slower than the lap before, going off, steering to the right and not to the left so for me there was no more need to explain it really, other than for your questions. It was a shame for him, because he would have deserved to be third, I guess or second, or whatever.

Q. (Jonathan Ledgard - BBC Five Live) Michael, just to pick up that point about you thinking Ferrari will go well here; people watching the race last weekend, with BAR and Renault ahead of you might think the balance of power has shifted a little bit so why do you think you're still going to be so prominent?

MS:

Well, it was not a surprise to see Renault and BAR being strong in Monte Carlo, it was predicted, but we were there, we weren't that far away off fighting for victory, probably the nature of this circuit is more in our favour again compared to Monaco.

Q. (Dan Knutson - National Speedsport News) Michael, along with the rumours that Mika Hakkinen is coming back are the rumours that Jacques Villeneuve is coming back. I know you guys were not the best of mates, but what would you think of having Jacques back in F1?

MS:

He obviously has a great name and Formula One is always happy to have those names. There are 20 drivers in Formula One. You are friends with some, but you have less to do with others, but that's life, that's pretty normal and I have no feeling at all in a bad way not to see him back, honestly. I would be quite happy. We saw each other at the party after the race in Monaco, we had a chat. The atmosphere between us was pretty relaxed.

Q. (Will Gray - Atlas F1) Ralf, you have a very good relationship with Sam Michael, a long-lasting one. Do you see his promotion as being a) helpful for the team, obviously, but b) helpful for yourself in terms of staying with the team?

RS:

It was definitely a very helpful step for the team which, hopefully, I'm sure he will prove and whether it has anything to do with my situation I'm not sure yet. That will take a while. I'm simply waiting to decide what I'm going to do. That's all I can say at the moment.

Participating: Fernando Alonso (Renault), Juan Pablo Montoya(Williams).

Q. Fernando, you had improvements to the car in Monaco and obviously the team won. Do you think we are going to see that even greater here, those improvements?

Fernando Alonso:

It will be difficult. In Monaco we had a fantastic weekend, we finished first and third in the qualifying and probably first and second in the race with no problems and it was a very strong weekend for Renault. But Monaco is a very special track and here is different, maybe things will come back to normal. But, anyway, I think we have improved the car a lot. In Monaco we saw a little bit of that and here in Nurburgring I hope we can confirm that Renault is closing the gap with Ferrari and we can fight with them on some occasions.

Q. What do you think will be the effect of the win on the team?

FA:

Well, the team has much more confidence now, after the last two races. In Barcelona we finished third and fourth; in Monte Carlo we were there, we won the race, and I think from a reliability point of view we are very strong, we have finished all the races with no problems in the car and we are looking quite competitive so I think we are up and rolling with good confidence and ready to get a good result and finish the race again.

Q. What about your own race in Monaco. Just for the sake of everyone here, can you just repeat what you saw happening there?

FA:

Again. Well, as I explained already, after more than half a lap with blue flags I had no space to pass Ralf and then when we arrived in the tunnel, the corner before, I think it is Mirabeau, he put on the inside and I planned to pass him after the tunnel into the chicane. But because in that corner he moved to the inside part, you know, and he slowed down, I tried to overtake him and we were side-by-side and he went on the throttle up to fifth gear and we arrived in the corner in the tunnel together, side-by-side, and I went off. He managed to put me into the wall.

Q. But we now know he had a gearbox problem.

FA:

Yeah, if you have a gearbox problem it is a time to slow down even more when you have a blue flag to let the person pass, I think. And he did have a big, big problem with the gearbox - he retired, nearly. In Monaco, at 300km/h, it is not very professional to do this.

Q. But it was pretty dirty off-line as well, wasn't it?

FA:

Yeah, but I was not off-line. We were side-by-side in the corner, even if it is difficult with a blue-flag car to have to fight with him in the tunnel, we managed to arrive side-by-side in the corner.

Q. Juan Pablo, BMW-Williams won this race here last year. What chances of doing the same again?

Juan Pablo Montoya:

Well, I think it is a bit different to last year. We are in a bit of a harder position. Last year, at this point, we had a really strong car. I think we were a bit lucky to win here last year because I remember Kimi was the guy leading the race. But, you know, sometimes you need to be lucky, sometimes you need to be the quickest guy out there to win and, you know, we are going to try as hard as we can every weekend at least to make sure we try to be the quickest Michelin runner.

Q. Now, since Monaco, I believe you have been in Bulgaria. That is quite a lot of hard work.

JPM:

Yeah, I just went to Bulgaria on Tuesday for an Allianz day, they were launching a road safety campaign.

Q. But you feel quite rested for this race?

JPM:

Yeah, okay.

Q. There is also the rumour you are going to stay at Williams or you are not going to McLaren. Can you just clarify that?

JPM:

Nnyaah, somebody asked me and said: 'Ah! You are going to BAR!' And I am, like, 'really!?' No. I am 100 percent committed to going to McLaren and I am actually really looking forward to it.

Q. So, their current form doesn't worry you at all?

JPM:

I am not driving the car so I am not too concerned! That's the truth. You know, I know they are coming out pretty soon with the new car, hopefully it is more competitive and I am sure they will be ready when I get there. Even if they are not then we need to work together to be able to win. I am here at Williams at the moment and we are not very competitive either, are we?

Q. So, just coming back to Monaco again, can you give us your version of your incident with Michael?

JPM:

We were warming up the tyres, he went up the gears, I went up the gears, he braked hard to try to warm up the brakes, I braked as hard as I could to try to avoid him, I moved to the right to avoid him and I think he was following the safety car, trying not to pick up any debris from Alonso's incident with Ralf, and I was beside him. I was against the wall and I think he wasn't expecting that I would be there trying to avoid him. His back wheel went over my front wheel and that was it.

Q. How eager were you to end the lap? Did you know the safety car was coming in at that stage?

JPM:

Yeah, everybody knew before that because, you know, they tell the teams that the safety car is coming in on this lap and the lights on the safety car go off.

Q. So you were pretty keen to be right up behind him…

JPM:

(Interrupts) Why do I want to be keen to be behind him in the tunnel? I would be keen in the last corner…

Q. That's what I said, yes.

JPM:

I was actually, you know, you look at a shot from the inside of the tunnel and you see him braking with the front tyres locking and you see me coming straight up the back of him and I actually managed to avoid him. I said at the last race, you know, that it was not the first time it had happened, with Michael, you know, warming up the brakes and things like that, and it is the first time that he was the unlucky one in the incident. I wasn't really interested in going from fifth to fourth by taking Michael off, really.

Questions From The Floor

Q. Juan Pablo, what it your personal opinion of the incident involving Ralf and Fernando?

JPM:

To be honest with you, I haven't seen it. Honestly, honestly, honestly, I haven't seen it on TV. I had plenty of problems when I finished the race and I didn't have time to watch it.

Q. (Jonathan Legard - BBC Radio 5 Live) Juan Pablo, what is your opinion of Sam Michael's promotion because your team-mate thinks that in three to four races then Williams are up there. By the sounds of it, you don't?

JPM:

No, I don't know, you know. It is very hard to know how it is going to change, is it going to be Patrick completely out? I know he is going to be senior, you know, chief of the team, but I don't think he can do too much in the short-term. I don't know, are we going to have a new car? As far as I know we are not. He is probably going to try to push the team harder to come up more goods. Hopefully it can improve because I am still driving the car and I would like to have a quicker car. It is a matter of time, so we have to wait and see what happens. I cannot go and say, you know, Sam is in a higher position, so now we are going to win.

Q. (Jonathan Legard) It sounds as though the rest of the season is going to be just as much of a struggle as the first few races, then.

JPM:

Well, hopefully not. You know, hopefully like Ralf said, Sam can bring the things around. But I would be very surprised because Patrick was doing a very competitive job anyway. It's not like Patrick was fingers crossed and waiting to see a miracle happen. Patrick was working really hard behind the car as well.

Q. (Jonathan Legard) But you can understand why Williams have made the changes, something needed to be done?

JPM:

Well, I don't know even if the changes needed to be done that extremely but I am not involved in that. That is Williams' decision, not mine. I drive the car.

Q. (Mike Doodson - Mike Doodson Associates) Juan Pablo, you said you didn't see the incident with Ralf on the video but I guess you did see the one between yourself and Michael because I am assuming that when you went to the stewards' inquiry they showed the video. After the race, normally when these things happen you are pretty aggressive but on this occasion you were very careful. Were you careful because, on this occasion, you thought the evidence was entirely in your favour?

JPM:

No, I think I was careful because I think it was really sad. I actually felt bad to see Michael out of the race like that. If we were fighting for position and we hit each other and we were both off the track or one off the track, you can be pissed off about it. I was a lap behind and that was as far forward as I was going to go because the third car was Rubens and he was probably 30 or 40 metres behind me, so, in 30 laps I wasn't going to get the lap back, was I? So I wasn't really bothered, I was going to push like always and that was it. I feel really bad because I wasn't interested in getting involved in an accident, especially behind the safety car.

Q. Fernando, after what happened last Sunday how difficult is it for you to focus 100 percent on this Grand Prix?

FA:

No, it is very, very easy. I think all the drivers, we manage to be 100 percent focussed on the next Grand Prix no matter what result you have in the previous race. I am sure that Jarno won the race in Monaco and will be 100 percent here, I didn't finish in Monaco and I will be 100 percent here, it hasn't changed.

Q. (Dan Knutson - National Speedsport News) There are rumours that Jacques Villeneuve will return next year, maybe replacing you or maybe at another team. What would be your feelings at having Jacques back?

JPM:

I don't know. I don't know what to say. Great! You know. Good for him, that's the only thing I can think of. The last few years he probably had some really tough years at BAR and I think, for him, it has to be really sad to see the car become competitive as soon as he left and he worked so many years with the team to try to get that, so I think it was pretty tough.

Q. To both of you, do you think this is going to be a weekend where Ferrari comes back strong again?

FA:

At the moment, before the free practice starts, in the picture we see the Ferraris in the front because after we saw in the first five races with four pole positions and five victories I think they have to prove they are still quick in all the circuits. Maybe in Monte Carlo was some exception, so I think Ferrari will be the team to beat, for sure.

JPM: I don't think they have been off the pace at all, really. You know, in Monaco, as Fernando said, it is a different race than the normal races. The crucial thing is the tyres and how they behave and everything and I think here it is going to be probably the same old story. But, you know, we will try our best to stop it.

Q. Fernando, what do you like best and what do you like least about this Grand Prix?

FA:

I like all the circuit, all the parts, probably the new sector, with the new corners, is not very interesting because it is very slow but it is a nice track here and we can see a good race here if the weather is okay.

Q. (Bob Constanduros) Both of you, but first to Juan Pablo, there is a rumour going around that Mika Hakkinen is coming back and going to Williams-BMW…

JPM:

So, Jacques and Mika next year at Williams?! (Laughter)

Q. (Bob Constanduros) If Mika does come back, do you think he could be competitive?

JPM:

Probably could, if he does plenty of testing he will probably be competitive, yeah. I think something you learn like driving you are not going to forget. You probably need more time to get the experience back but it would probably be okay, same as Jacques.

FA: Same. I think he would have to do a lot of tests to come back but he would still be quick, for sure.

Q. Juan, were you surprised when it was announced that Sam Michael was going to replace Patrick Head?

JPM:

No, I knew about it. I already knew about it when it was announced, so no. It really doesn't change anything. Probably the biggest effect on the team is going to be a long-term effect, rather than a short-term, and in the long-term I am not there so…