Thursday press conference - China

During the Thursday FIA press conference of the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Robert Kubica and Kimi Raikkonen answered the questions of the gathered press.

Fernando Alonso: "Hopefully we can do well here. Obviously the victory I am still thinking is very far and we are not as quick as maybe the contenders for the win here but we can do a good job again and take hopefully many points for the team. I think the car is really nice to drive now in the last month and a half, so I don't see any reason that here we will not have a competitive car. But as I said maybe not for the win but hopefully the podium will be our target."

FA: "We have been introducing new parts at every race but some of them were a little bit better from a performance point of view but some of them were not so good, so you know I think we are still not completely sure how the car changed dramatically in the last couple of weeks. We introduced a new front wing but I think it is something more than that. You know, little things in the set-up as well, I think, helped us a lot. We found some new way to set up the car in the last couple of races and it seems to work fine, especially in the long run pace in the race, so we will keep this set-up for sure for this race."

FA: "I think turn one is our main challenge from a driver's point of view because it is a very long corner that you need to guess more or less to turn in and you need to continually downshift all the way through turn one and you can make good time there. Also there is the very long straight at the back. You need to have a good exit from the corner before but I think it is very similar for everybody and the set-up of the car can also be crucial here as it is a very, very long straight and you need to take some downforce off but you need the downforce in the corners, so you need to find the compromise."

Kimi Raikkonen: "It is nice to come back here. I have had some good races in the past here but hopefully we can have similar achievement this year but we need to see what we can do."

KR: "Like I said, hopefully I can challenge for a win. The car is definitely improving and it is better for me but we are still not exactly where we want to be. But this is a different place from the last circuit. Last year we had a good time and hopefully this year we can again."

KR: "I mean at Fuji I had a pretty okay qualifying but then it didn't work out in the race as well. For sure qualifying for all the teams is going to make a big difference and if you are driving behind cars it is going to be difficult to get past anybody."

Lewis Hamilton: "I think from last year it is just keep your head up, things happen and I guess to avoid the gravel trap here. I think from last weekend there are quite a lot of positives I took from the weekend and I move forward, put that in the past. The team remain positive. We make mistakes together as a team and we move on together, so onwards and upwards for us."

LH: "No."

LH: "The same as always. We come here and we are going to try and do the best job we can. The car is very competitive and we were very quick here last year but we should perhaps be a little bit more competitive this year with the good car that we have. But it is going to be a very tough weekend without a doubt, so we will try and do the best job we can."

LH: "They have obviously done a fantastic job and it is great to see them doing so well. You can see how hard they have worked over the last two years, so it is not a surprise to see them doing well. They are a great team and I am sure they are going to be pushing us hard throughout the weekend."

Robert Kubica: "Yeah, if you compare results of the race. I retired when I was leading the race, so that was not bad."

RK: "There is nothing to say. They were two wet qualifying sessions, so it has been quite difficult but still in the race in 2006 I was doing a very good race but unfortunately I was last after corner one as I was hit by Doornbos but gaining a lot of positions and running P5 but then with gambling with tyre choice and it didn't work out. Last year again during drying conditions on the track I had good pace. We chose dry tyres but in my first stop it started to rain and I kept the tyres and in two laps I overtook two Ferraris and I was leading the race, so all in all I think it was not bad."

RK: "I think the only way to stay in the championship was with consistency and reliability. It was just great this season. Compared to last year we have done very big progress. Last year we had many technical issues but this year none, so the biggest steps were there comparing last year from this year. That is why we are still in the game. Of course our position is not the best one but if I am still among three drivers who can fight for the championship it is due to the reliability which is 100 per cent perfect this season."

RK: "I am always trying to give maximum but just this season I am really thinking that reliability will be the issue. Last year was completely different. Last year I had many races when there was some technical issue. This season when reliability is perfect you are not thinking about it. But from a driving point of view, it is no different."

Questions from the floor

KR: "I always try to win but hopefully we are in a position this weekend to fight for that. I know what the team expects from me and I know what they want, they want both championships, so we will see how the race goes and where we are and then maybe there is some different approach we can take. That we will see during the race."

FA: "Very good. Obviously I was asked this question. When I said this in Fuji what I meant is that now we have a competitive car it seems that we are able to fight sometimes with Ferrari and McLaren and first of all we need to have a competitive, hard car here in Shanghai and Brazil to be fighting with Ferrari and McLaren. If we do that and Felipe wins the race and I can be second or third I will be happy to help Felipe to take as many points as possible and this is the only approach."

LH: "We both had penalties, Felipe and I, but that is motor racing. You move forward and try to avoid it in the future."

LH: "No."

RK: "It is very easy. I haven't seen them, so I cannot judge them. I don't know what happened."

FA: "It is the same as always. We probably believe that there are too many penalties because sometimes the races are decided by the stewards. Sometimes they are wrong, sometimes they are fair."

KR: "I haven't been hurt too badly by any of those but I mean sometimes it is difficult to say. Everybody has their own opinions whether it is right or wrong and that is always going to be the case. Some like it, some not and for me it is okay. Whatever we say is not going to change much, so there is no point to put too much input in."

LH: "Honestly, I don't have an opinion on it. I focus on my job and that's the most important thing. I think we can be competitive this weekend and challenge for points and try to win. What the others do is none of my business."

FA: "I saw it as I was just behind them."

FA: "Sometimes what you read in newspapers is wrong."

FA: "We can be here forever and you cannot misunderstand what I say, you know. When we say all these things, my best relationship for example is with Robert. I would like to see him winning the championship but I know this is quite difficult because I think the performance of his car etc it will be difficult to recover 12 points.

"I will do my own race but after all, when you finish the race and see the results, you prefer some drivers to win or some teams to win compared to others but I don't think that I will be a key part of the championship. Whatever driver wins will win because he won the last two races or did a better job than the other one, so that's all. You can take whatever you can from my comment but it is very simple."

KR: "What do you mean? I mean we try as a team to win both championships. It's as simple as that."

KR: "Yeah, it can be easier or it can be more difficult. It depends really how these last two races go. Anything can happen. There are three guys who can win, so last year I was quite a bit behind and I was still able to do it, so I am not going to start guessing who is going to win. I am sure whoever wins deserves it in the end and we hope that our team will be there."

FA: "It's OK like this, I think."

KR: "Yeah, I guess we expect to have 18 or maybe 17 next year but one or two races doesn't make much difference. I think we would have more testing if we don't have races and if we do more racing, there's less testing, so for us racing is always the nicest thing, I prefer races."

LH: "I agree."

RK: "This season the best would be seven, from my point of view. Someone should know why."

RK: "I think there is nothing more to comment on. When one driver is overtaking another one and crossing his line just in front of his wheel, it's quite dangerous, especially if someone behind has to lift off. I have been involved in an accident in a similar situation in Canada and I know what it means when a front wheel hits a rear wheel and from my point of view it's quite dangerous. I just say this: while nothing happens everything is fine but if something happens then I think everyone will realise. That's all. We haven't spoken. I didn't make a comment about Lewis, I just said overall that these kinds of moves are pretty dangerous, especially in wet conditions. That's all."

LH: "Not really."

KR: "No comment."

FA: "No comment."

LH: "Have I? Well, I haven't seen that. I was in Tokyo for a couple of days and then I came here and I've not really paid any attention to it. When you have not such a good race there's always going to be criticism which doesn't matter whether it's positive or negative, you move forward, you put it in the past but coming here, I feel just as strong as I always do. We've still got two races, we're still five points ahead, I still have a great opportunity to make the next step. My team and myself have really collected ourselves and are kind of moving forward."

LH: "We'll see. Who knows what's going to happen but we will give it our best shot."

LH: "We'll give it our best shot. I feel good."

KR: "First of all, it is a dangerous sport, so when you race against somebody, you try to make sure that first of all you want to get round him and not crash into him because it's not going to help you or him. But sometimes you get it wrong, when you push on the limit and both guys try to go as fast as possible in a corner and not try to let the other guy past. Sometimes you end up hitting each other and that's racing. The rules are quite tight.

"Sometimes you get penalised, sometimes not but as I said, there are always many different views of the same incidents or the same situations. There is always going to be talk about penalties and stuff but that's unfortunately going to be a big part of Formula One. It's not always best for the sport but we're here to race and try to get past people and sometimes you get penalties out of it, even when you don't think it's right. But that's how it goes."

FA: "Nothing to add."

LH: "Firstly, in Brazil I didn't try to overtake him and make a mistake. Fernando was on the outside and he braked a little bit earlier than I anticipated and so I had to try to avoid him, so I went wide and that forced me to go off, so that wasn't a manoeuvre trying to overtake. In the last race, it was a racing manoeuvre and it didn't come off but that's motor racing, what can you do? I don't plan on changing my approach, it's not necessary."

LH: "I think McLaren and Ferrari will both be competitive in the last two races, as will BMW and Renault but who knows who's going to win? For sure whoever does the best job will finish at the top. We all have a chance of doing that."

KR: "There's a lot of… you win a lot or you can lose a lot in the last two races. For me or Heikki it's more for the team, to get the points in the first place and Lewis and Felipe are racing against themselves. At some point, when the points are close, the other guy needs to try to keep the other bloke behind and vice versa, so a lot of things can easily go well for one guy and go badly for another. Then you see different results sometimes, it can be because of the weather but I wouldn't put money one anybody, anybody can win really. It gets more exciting in the last couple of races, especially for the guys who are fighting for the championship."

FA: "I think Ferrari and McLaren are clear favourites to win the last races, one of the four guys. But I think the last few races were a little bit special. In Monza it rained a lot, the favourites started behind. Singapore was (affected by) the safety car, if not the Ferrari and McLaren were leading the race until the safety cars. With normal conditions, I think you will have more normal results."

RK: "Same."

RK: "I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing, so I'm fine."

FA: "I'm very happy."

KR: "I'm happy with my life, I wouldn't change it."

FA: "I think it's a good idea to have an ex-driver with the stewards just to help them, just because the decisions they take are difficult to know from the outside if you never drove a Formula One car. As Kimi said before, I think it's difficult to get the same feeling and the same comment from all the drivers on the same accident.

"Some of them will think that it's fair, some of them not because I think that's normal. For the drivers, what will help is to have consistency in the penalties. If one time you do something and you get penalised, it's not possible that the next time you do the same thing and you don't get penalised. I think we ask for a little bit more consistency, even if they are very harsh."

KR: "Yeah, for sure that would help. It would keep people happier also, that every time you get the same decision. Maybe if there would be an older driver there would be more respect and people wouldn't complain as much. It's only that people want to have the same thing happening every time, the same penalties and same rules."

LH: "I've not really given it much thought to be honest."

RK: "I agree with them."

RK: "My approach is pretty much the same as usual, as it has been all season, why I had zero points after the first race or after seven races I was leader of the championship. I'm always trying to do my best and trying to score as many points as possible. We are of course trying to maximise the potential of this car which we have seen lately is maybe not the fastest one but it is the most reliable one.

"For sure, that's a key point but still, for the last two races, with twelve points behind, I think the two drivers in front of me have much more to lose than I have to win. Of course it will be good to have the fastest car, to be able to fight for poles and to be able to win races and at that point I would say I have some chance because in normal conditions I would be able to fight.

"There is no secret that lately we have dropped off pace-wise. Additionally, Renault and Toyota were quicker than us in Fuji, so that makes my life and the team's much more difficult to compete against Ferrari and McLaren. But the last few races have shown up that everything is possible, due to the weather, due to the safety car, due to the first corner accident in Fuji, that racing is unpredictable, so that's why we should try to do our best."