Michael Schumacher: Yeah, it's been a very special day and to finish it in
this style as we have been doing today, looking at the championship as well, but
much more at what's going to happen somehow in future. There's been a lot of
discussion for a long time concerning my future and so on and I think all the
fans, all the people interested in motor sport, they have a right to have
explained to them what's going to happen. I'm sorry it may have taken longer
than some of you wanted but you have to savor a moment, and you have to find the
right moment and we feel this is the right moment.
To make it short in a way, this is going to be my last Monza race that I'm
going to do. At the end of this year, I've decided, together with the team, that
I'm going to retire from racing. It has been an exceptional, really exceptional
time, what motor sport has given to me in more than thirty years. I've really
loved every single moment of the good and the bad times. Those ones make life so
special.
In particular, I should thank my family, starting, obviously, with my Dad,
my passed-away Mum and obviously my wife and my kids who, at all times,
supported what I was doing, and without their support, without their strengths,
to survive in this business and this sport, and to perform, I think would have
been impossible, and obviously I can't be thankful enough, obviously to my
family but also to my mates from the Benetton time and obviously, specially in
the Ferrari days when I have made so many friends. I have so many great guys in
that team and it has been a really tough decision to decide to not work together
at this level with all my friends, my engineers, everybody. They are just so
great but one day, the day has to come and I felt that at one point that this is
the moment as well as, in terms of timing the decision, I thought that it was
fair to find that moment so that Felipe has a chance to decide his future,
because I think he is a very great guy. He has been doing a very good job for
the team, very supportive, a really great teammate, and there was a moment for
him to decide for his future, and there was no point for me to take my decision
any later than his decision had to be taken and this was the conclusion.
As well as in a way my future replacement, it's a driver – at some stage
the team will tell you – but I was always pleased and I knew a long time ago –
to hear that he was the person, and now I would just like to concentrate on
these last three wins and finish it in style, and hopefully with the
championship, we have made a big step today for that and I really look forward,
and I want to thank everybody who has been on my way, or supporting me at all
stages. They have been a lot of people. Thank you very much.
Q: I'm sure everybody in Formula One wishes you well on that decision,
Michael. Just looking back to this great win today, what were your thoughts when
you were behind Kimi in those early stages?
MS: Well, I was hoping that he was stopping a little bit earlier than we
would, and so it happened, and the nature of this track is that if you stop
earlier you obviously lose out because you run heavy against a car which is
light, and that was enough to get by.
Q: Thereafter, it looked to be a race you were in control of. A slight
moment with Scott Speed, going into the chicane on lap 31, you lost a little bit
of time there, but otherwise relatively troublefree.
Q: Kimi, a great start, pressure from Michael in the early stages of the
race.
Kimi Raikkonen: Umm. Yeah. The start worked very well. I was a little bit
concerned about our starting, because the previous starts haven't been exactly
good, but the guys did an excellent job fixing the start system and everything
worked well. I had a good start and I was just trying to go as fast as I could
before the first pit stop, because I was thinking that they might stop a little
bit later, so if I could pull out any gap, any chance we could have to try and
fight for a win, but as it turned out, we were not quick enough today. But
second was quite easy, so in the end I just slowed down and brought the car home
and got second place. Unfortunately that was the maximum that we could have
today, but it is still a good weekend.
Q: Robert, on the podium, third place in your third Grand Prix, a fantastic
drive, a lot of fuel in the car, and unbelievably quick off the line with your
teammate Nick Heidfeld.
Robert Kubica: I'm really surprised to finish third. We knew that we had
good tyres this time for the race, not only for qualifying as happened in
Istanbul so we were concerned about qualifying, but when we saw that we could be
competitive in qualifying as well, and go easily into third qualifying, I knew
that we would have quite a consistent car for the race and that's what happened.
Good start, unfortunately I locked my wheels in the first corner and I
flat-spotted my tyres, so I got a lot of vibration. Then we changed the tyres
and it was always a tough race because I had to fight with Felipe and Alonso and
also lapping doesn't help me because I was the first one of the group who was
lapping and I always lost a second. Then we just came out of the second pit stop
with Fernando, side-by-side. Anyway, he blew up the engine and it was really
risky because there was oil. Felipe went through and I think he got a puncture
or something and then the end of the race was quite easy for me, just bring the
car home and the first podium of my life in Formula One.
Q: Michael, tell us about your mindset now as you look ahead to those three
closing races in the championship, now only two points behind Fernando
Alonso.
MS: I think it is very easy to say what my mindset is. It's not right to
say, I'm more focused than ever because I've always been focused on only one
thing once I'm in the car, so it is now. It's a championship which started
difficult in the beginning, but we returned to it after another difficulty
mid-season and now we are two points behind with three races to go, so if I look
back to Canada, nobody would have thought we could be in that position. Now we
are, due to some luck, but if you look at the retirements over the year, it's
now equal and there we are, so 100 percent focused for the Constructors' and
Drivers' championship.
Q: Michael, one of the things I think you like doing most is standing on
the top step of a rostrum on a sunny Sunday afternoon, and today was probably
one of the best. How are going to give it up?
MS: Yeah, Monza is just unbelievable, always has been very special
particularly after the race when all the fans are allowed to celebrate this
moment so close to us and with us and due to the nature of the circumstances,
it's obviously an unbelievable feeling that I had out there today.
Q: You said to Peter just now that you knew a long time ago who was going
to be driving in the team next year, so how difficult has it been for you to
make your decision?
MS: It has obviously, naturally, been difficult in a way but at one moment
I simply knew that all the effort, all the energy, all the motivation you need
in order to be competitive - and that's the only reason I want to be here - I
can't see I'm going to have that for further years. It has been such a good time
for all this time and there's no point just to hang in there and maybe take away
the future of a very young talented driver like Felipe. Obviously my
replacement… I was aware of this for quite a long time, but with Felipe it was
obviously around Indianapolis that his future had to be decided and I didn't see
a reason to just hang in there and maybe take away his opportunity and I believe
he's a very talented and great person.
Q: You still have that competitive instinct, how are you going to get rid
of it?
MS: Well, we will have to see. I always said that the day I will retire, I
will just do nothing for a while and then I will see what I'm doing, what is my
mood and what's going to happen, but I will always be part of that Ferrari
family, I will have to find out how, but I will always stick with my friends
there.
Q: Today's race: in the early stages were you just holding station behind
Kimi, were you quite happy with that position?
MS: There isn't much sense to go much closer honestly, because you just
start fighting the car much harder for not much gain, so I had to wait close to
the pit stop time and then we both picked up the lap times and tried to stay as
close as possible and luckily I had two extra laps and that worked out.
Q: How difficult will these future races be do you think, now that you've
made your decision?
MS: I think this was my most tough one, in a way but it worked out fine.
It's not as if I'm lacking anything to make my decision, and this is the reason
for it. I don't want to be going away when I'm well over it and I want to leave
while I'm still at the top level, so I don't have any reason to have a problem
for the last three races.
KR: Yeah, of course you want to win but unfortunately we didn't have the
speed today. The car was working well, it was nice to drive but it was just not
quick enough to challenge Michael today. Second was easy, but that's not what we
want but anyhow it was a good weekend.
Q: And your feelings about joining Ferrari next year?
KR: Of course, it's next year. I want to finish this year as well as I can.
I'm happy to join a team with a history and all the great things, but first of
all I want to finish this year as well as I can and then see what happens next
year.
Q: Robert, what a fantastic result in only your third Grand Prix; could you
ever have imagined that at the start of this year?
RK: No. For me it was already a really great opportunity which BMW Sauber
gave me to be a test driver, and then, as everybody knows, I replaced Jacques in
the Hungarian Grand Prix and this is my third Grand Prix. In Hungary, I scored
points but unfortunately our car was too light. Here: podium, which we were not
expecting. After qualifying we thought about some points but when you're
starting on the third row and you have two Renaults behind you, which are really
strong… After the start, I was third I think. I had the Ferrari of Massa behind
me and it was not easy to hold him but anyway, I think we had a good strategy,
good car and thanks to the team for giving me such a good opportunity and thanks
to our guys.
Q: And a big battle with Nick at the first corner?
RK: It was big? After the start, I knew that it was important to go out of
the first chicane really well so he went in too quick, I got on the throttle
earlier and just overtook him.
Q: (Dan Knutson - National Speed Sport News) Michael, when exactly did you
decide to retire?
MS: In Indianapolis.
问:(Dan Knutson - National Speed Sport News)迈克尔,你是在什么时候决定退休的?
迈克尔-舒马赫:印第安纳波利斯。
Q: (Juha Paatalo – Financial Times Deutschland) Michael, how emotional is
this moment for you?
MS: It was obviously pretty emotional to take the lap back after the race.
I was talking to my team and informed everybody of my decision and probably this
was the most emotional moment along with being on the podium to celebrate and at
that moment knowing it's the last opportunity I would have to finish so well
with such a crowd with so much they gave to me in terms of their feeling and it
just overwhelmed me.
问:(Juha Paatalo – Financial Times Deutschland)迈克尔,此刻你的心情怎么样?
Q: (Juha Paatalo – Financial Times Deutschland) Kimi, can you describe the
reasons why you chose Ferrari as your future team?
KR: There are many reasons. I have had five years at McLaren and they are a
great team and nice people to work with, but in the end I wanted something else
and there were only two choices – to stay with McLaren or to go to Ferrari and
for me personally I wanted to go there one day and this was the best moment and
I think it is a great team to join and there will be people I will miss in
McLaren, but that's how it goes. Sometimes you want something in your
life.