Q: David, you suggested that Monaco was a one-off in terms of result. Is
that the way you judged it?
David Coulthard: It’s a bit premature to say. There’s still a lot of races
to go, but clearly, there were a number of things that played in our favour
during the race. People dropped out, people got penalties, that can happen at
other circuits as well but I think that all weekend, in all the sessions, we
were always in the top six throughout most of the sessions, so that’s why I was
disappointed with the eventual qualifying position, because I didn’t actually
get a run at it - we chose to do one lap which in hindsight was a mistake, and
we got traffic. At that type of track, mechanically the car obviously worked
well. The engine, we know, has won Grands Prix already with Ferrari. It’s on the
more open circuits that we don’t have quite as an efficient package so in
contrast, this track will probably be a lot more difficult for us. That’s the
challenge. You’ve got to react to it.
Q: Some of the English press coverage suggested that that was going to help
you keep your seat for next year. Do you feel you’re fighting for your seat for
next year?
DC: I think it’s a bit silly to suggest that one result is what people
decide on why they are going to put someone in a car. I’ve got a history of
consistency, scoring points, obviously won a few Grands Prix and the team know
very well what I do on track, with engineers and back at the factory, so I don’t
believe there’s any fight or struggle. It’s quite clear that I want to drive the
car next year with all of the people that have been brought together. This is
the year that hopefully they gel and I see no reason why that car, next season,
can’t be competing for serious points, podiums and victories and I know that I
can deliver those.
Q: An interesting story today in Autosport suggesting that you’re in
contact, in discussion with Ferrari. What have you got to say about that?
DC: Well, it’s inevitable that everyone has to know what the market-place
offers. If you look at Ferrari from the outside, they’ve got one driver scoring
serious points and the other one not. Any team needs to have two drivers in a
position to capitalise and as I say, I didn’t score over 500 points by
accident.
DC: That’s none of your business. As I said, everyone talks to everyone at
this stage of the season so I’m sure that even Jenson, although we believe he’s
contracted to Honda, I’m sure he’s probably talking to someone as well.
Q: Jenson, you seem to be very much aiming for third or fourth team here.
Is that the position of the team at the moment?
Jenson Button: We’re not going to suddenly jump forward compared to Monaco
and the previous few races. Renault and Ferrari are very strong at the moment
and I think McLaren are also, so it’s very difficult. It’s so competitive out
there at the moment. But for us to say where we are going to finish is a silly
thing to do. I think we need to just try to get the best out of the package we
have and that is our aim at the moment, and then we will see where we end up. We
don’t know where we will be.
Q: Can you envisage fighting with Renault and Ferrari?
JB: No, not this weekend.
问:你会正视和雷诺以及法拉利之间的竞争吗?
简森-巴顿:不,不是在这个周末。
Q: But in the future?
JB: Yeah, definitely. I think every team would hope that they can challenge
Renault and Ferrari in the future, and that’s the reason why we are here, to
hopefully be the best, but it’s not going to happen overnight. We are improving
things, the new full-size wind tunnel coming on line, it’s going to make a big
difference to us, so for the future, I’m very positive that we will be
challenging at the front. But this weekend is really a weekend that we are all
looking forward to, it’s a very special weekend, especially for us two
(indicates Coulthard), it’s our home Grand Prix and we’re hoping for a good
result and that good result is us getting the best out of the package we have at
the moment and then, on Monday, we talk about where we go from there.
Q: Just tell us about racing here at Silverstone, for you, your home Grand
Prix?
JB: It is a great feeling, especially when the weather’s like this. The
Australian weather was pretty poor when we were there… But this is great to see:
the sun’s out and it’s going to stay out for the whole weekend which is great
and it’s going to be pretty special for the fans, I think, especially the
English fans, having the footy on Saturday and being able to watch it on the big
screens.
Q: Mark, Bridgestone seem to have had a good test at Barcelona but you were actually playing it down a bit,
that it wasn’t so good for Williams.
Mark Webber: Well, I wasn’t at Barcelona, I did all the work before Monaco,
and I was at the Silverstone test, so it was my test off. But in the Barcelona
race, Michael was fighting with Fernando but not that hard, obviously, so that’s
really the last test we’ve had on a high speed circuit like Barcelona and
Silverstone. The tyre testing obviously allowed Michelin… they do their work for
those sort of venues to test the tyres for this race. I think that it will all
come into play actually, in terms of the track temperatures which will be pretty
similar which is good, but it’s the same for both companies. But I wouldn’t say
the Bridgestones can’t do the job. I think that at Williams, we need to probably
get a little bit more complete on the higher speed sort of circuits. We are
looking to do a really really good job here of course, in terms of pace, but so
are the other guys. There’s a big group after the gap to Renault and
McLaren.
Q: Where do you feel you’re really lacking, in terms of pace, is there one
particular area?
MW: Normally, in Formula One, aerodynamics play a huge role and I think
it’s less of a role in Monte Carlo and more down to mechanical grip, and the
tyres need to work well as well. Barcelona and Silverstone - there’s nowhere to
hide. We need to work on the efficiency and work on having the car behave itself
through all types of high speed corners and finishing the lap in the Complex, so
that’s probably the main area we are focusing on as heavily as we can like most
of the other teams, to close the gap to Renault because they are probably the
best team aerodynamically at the moment.
Q: It’s said that the deal is done between Toyota and Williams. What are
your feelings about a possible change of power for next year?
MW: Well, there’s loads of speculation but as usual, until it’s all done,
you never know. But first of all Cosworth have not let us down anywhere this
season in terms of… we had the one rear of the field at the start of the race in
Nurburgring, but the pace of the engine has been absolutely phenomenal for us
all year. It’s one of the best V8s if not the best V8 ever. It’s an incredible
engine and there are some very good guys there. So if we do change, there’s a
big set of shoes to fill, to fill Cosworth’s role that they’ve done for us this
year.
Q: So a question for all three of you: your feelings about the World Cup,
who’s going to win, who will you be supporting?
MW: I’ve lived in England for ten years and I’ve loved the English people
and the comedy and all that sort of stuff. But when it comes to sport, I hope
they get absolutely battered in the World Cup, so I’m going for Australia.
Q: Do you know where you’re going to watch Australia’s opening match?
MW: Australia? I don’t even know when they are playing first.
问:你知道你会去哪里看澳大利亚的第一场比赛吗?
马克-韦伯:澳大利亚?我甚至不知道什么时候他们开始比赛。
Q: That’s how much you follow them!
MW: Err. Well I’ll take some interest when… like all the other Aussies,
only when they’re doing well.
问:那就是你对他们的热衷度!
马克-韦伯:嗯。同其他所有的澳洲人一样,我只在他们干得相当不错的时候会产生一些兴趣。
Q: Jenson?
JB: It’s quite an obvious one: England, I think, have got a fantastic team.
Hopefully they can work well together and yeah, I think this could be a very
good year for English football.