#flashback fic ref

FRIDAY: "From the moment we hit the track this morning, the car felt well balanced and positive - and that really allowed me to get into my day's programme without any problems. No matter what we changed on the car, it just kept getting better and better and the grip and balance kept improving. This is the best possible way to kick off any weekend and has given me extra confidence for the next few days: I feel in a very good place right now."

SATURDAY: "I got a bit out of shape during my first run in Q3; I ran a bit wide at Turn Eight and oversteered onto the marbles, which put me on the wrong line for Turn Nine and left me cleaning my tyres for the rest of the lap. But I pulled it all together for my final attempt - and it was as close as I could get to a perfect lap. Our whole weekend has gone well, I can really feel the support from the team and my family and we'll give it our best shot in the race tomorrow."

FRIDAY: "We are not where we want to be, although the time sheet makes it look worse than it is. The circuit is in quite good shape and there is some graining on the tyres, but in terms of the car set-up we still have work to do to get the balance of the car right. We will have to take a good look at the data to see how to improve tomorrow. There's a bit of work to do, but that's our job!"

SATURDAY: "A difficult day yesterday and also this morning. But before qualifying we made a few changes that helped us. We can be very happy with this result, I don't think I could have done better and it's better than we expected. Tomorrow in the race, I think it will be hard to catch the guys in front, so I will run my own race, do the best I can and if we can bring the car home, then we will see what we have achieved."

Q: Lewis, just how close do you feel to that World Championship now?

Hamilton: I have not really thought about it, to be honest. In terms of how close I feel I have not really thought about that. As I said, coming into this weekend we were targeting both races and looking at both of them hopefully to do a good job and collectively hopefully we can have good points from both. It is on your mind for sure but the fact that we have done a good job is what we needed to do. It is just that one step closer. We still have a tough race ahead of us in Brazil but I am really looking forward to it.

Q: At the end of the race Ron came on and talked about 'keeping up the discipline'. Has that what it has all been about?

Hamilton: He didn't say anything to me.

Q: That's what came over on the radio.

Hamilton: I don't remember hearing that, if I am honest. Maybe I was trying to talk to them at the same time.

Q: Tell us about your pace at the start as it must have been pleasing to pull away from the Ferraris.

Hamilton: Yeah, just throughout the weekend we knew we had the pace and from Friday we knew that we had better long run pace than them. With my car I was very happy with the balance and I was able to look after my tyres very well and really extract the most from them but also to make them last. The track conditions were great and the car was great, so I just took my time, pushed where I needed to and really managed the gap. For sure it was great to be able to pull away and pull the gap as we did.

Q: Was there a great deal of difference between the tyres?

Hamilton: No, throughout this weekend on both sets of tyres we were very competitive. When I needed to go quicker on the option I could have. If anything towards the end it seemed to be a bit of a better tyre for me but there was a very small gap between both sets of tyres. Perhaps just a bit more grip on the option but they were both just as consistent for me.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR:

Q: (Ed Gorman - The Times) Lewis, I think you mentioned earlier that your approach to Interlagos this year is going to be quite different to last year. Could you just expand a little bit more on that as you go into it with the same separation in the points and so on?

Hamilton: Well, there's not really much more to say, just that it's a similar approach to what I had this weekend, which was a better approach than I had last year coming here, so hopefully with the same approach that we had this year, a bit calmer, a bit more confident in the package and what we have to do… it's the same as this weekend.

Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association) Lewis, before you got in the car on Friday, you'd come in for a considerable amount of criticism following what happened last weekend in Japan. How much were you aware of that, and how much did that spur you on in your performance this weekend?

Hamilton: All week I haven't really spoken to many people and I haven't been on the Internet or seen the papers, so I was kind of oblivious to it until I arrived here and heard about it but if anything it amused me. I took the positives out of it and for sure, I arrived at the weekend with lots of energy and not distracted by it.

Q: (Marco Degl'Innocenti - La Gazzetta dello Sport) Lewis, we have learned that Flavio Briatore through the team sent to you his excuses, apologised for what he said on Thursday. Are you comfortable with that?

Hamilton: Again, I have no clue what he said anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

Q: (Marco Degl'Innocenti - La Gazzetta dello Sport) You have won ten points here today. Last year you practically lost ten points here. Is there quite a psychological difference in the approach to the next Grand Prix?

Hamilton: I would say so, yes. I think the last race of last year was tough. We went to Brazil and I can't remember if we were hit or not but we were on the back foot and knowing that Ferrari would be very competitive in Brazil it was going to be tough. We arrived this year and I think having a good race, we will settle back down tomorrow, back to where we were at the beginning of this week and we will work very, very hard to arrive in Brazil even more competitive, so I'm feeling good about it. I know it's going to be a tough weekend but again we will try to do the best job we can.

Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association) Lewis, it's been mentioned that last season you held a seven point to Kimi. This season you've got a seven point lead to Felipe. Are you a believer that lightning strikes twice in the same place?

Hamilton: No, I think it's a completely different year. I don't really have much to say to that to be honest.

Q: (Jerome Bourret - L'Equipe) Lewis, what's your opinion of Ferrari's tactics to switch position between Kimi and Felipe?

Q: Lewis, it looked as if everything went perfectly for you in that race?

Lewis HAMILTON: Yeah, all weekend we have had God on our side as always. The team have done a phenomenal job really preparing the car and making steps forward. We came here and the car felt fantastic all weekend and I owe so much to the guys not just at the track but back home. They have done a phenomenal job and the car is really a dream to drive. For the guys here they just make sure the car stays intact, so I can bring it home and that's what we did. It was a fantastic team effort this weekend, so a big thanks to them.

Q: It would be easy to say it was an easy race but there was enormous pressure on you particularly at the start?

Hamilton: Well, it was quite straightforward actually. I managed to get everything right on the formation lap. I was perfectly in my position and it was a great start, it was really probably one of the best we've had. I felt it was one of the best we've had this year which was needed. I got into turn one quite clear, I took it easy the first few corners then I started to bridge the gap. Fortunately we were just very, very consistent and I think every lap was faster and very, very few errors throughout the whole run, therefore I was able to create a gap and from there it was pretty smooth sailing.

Q: Sometimes in that situation it is difficult to keep the concentration level and stop the mind wandering?

Hamilton: After my second pit stop we were pretty much cruising. We were just looking after the tyres and the engine and just trying to bring the car home. I knew that there was an even bigger gap behind me and it was inevitable the Kimi would let Felipe by, so I just had to keep it under control. To be honest it wasn't tough at all. When you are out in front and you have that gap and you know you can push a little bit more if you need to, it is quite comforting, so it is just about keeping your head and keeping the same calm.

Q: Lewis, seven points is your lead going into Brazil. What does this win mean for you and how does it set up the Brazilian Grand Prix?

Q: Lewis, what do you think of that margin, 0.3s?

Hamilton: I think we could have probably stuck even more fuel in it!

Q: Is that a major margin? You were talking just now about losing 0.6s on that first run in the middle sector and 0.3s to Kimi in the final sector.

Hamilton: I made a mistake in the middle sector. I had an oversteer moment in turn eight and went wide and I was on the marbles, so I didnt push for the rest of the lap or not that much. I spent the rest of the lap or the next few corners trying to clean the tyres. In the last sector I wasnt particularly quick but it didnt matter as long as I got in a banker lap, that was all that mattered to me. I knew that on the second attempt I would get it right.

Q: Is there more pressure on you here? Drivers always say they put pressure on themselves. Are you putting more pressure on yourself?

Hamilton: No, no. As I said at the beginning of the week I just approach it the same as always. I dont need to do anything spectacular. I just need to be myself and drive the way I drive and thats all I need to do. I think today, generally, as drivers, when you dont get the first lap, the second is always the hard one but for me thats exciting. The first lap didnt work. The second one was hard core!

Q: Lewis, quickest in both sessions yesterday and quickest in all three qualifying sessions today and on pole by a margin of 0.3. It is looking very good.

Lewis HAMILTON: Absolutely, I think coming from some positives from the previous race we came here very strong, very determined and with a good frame of mind and we have been very competitive all weekend. The practices have gone very well and the qualifying was one of our best. My first Q3 lap wasnt so great but I managed to pull it together on the last lap and it was as close as I could get to a perfect lap.

Q: Talk us through that first lap in Q3. On the radio we heard you were down on that second sector.

Hamilton: I had six tenths in fact and it was all good up until turn eight and just though there I had a big oversteer moment and ran wide and was on the marbles, so that messed me up for turn nine and 10, so I lost around seven tenths, something like that. I had to finish the lap, I couldnt bail out, I still had to get a banker in and I came in and the team told me where the time was lost. I knew where it was lost, so I went out and made sure it worked the next time.

Q: Tell us your mindset going into that last lap given the pressure of the championship?

Hamilton: To be honest I didnt have anything hanging over me or I didnt have anything else on my mind except for just doing a good lap. I was relaxed. I was happy with the balance of the car. I knew that I could have done it, so it was a matter of going out and doing it. It was tough for sure because everyone was very competitive, even Heikki, but I am very happy that I got the lap done.

[…]

Q: Lewis, lots of people have been giving you advice and telling you how to handle this weekend. How are you handling this weekend?

Q: Sebastian, a similar question. How do you feel you have developed? It seems to have been pretty much in the right direction.

Sebastian VETTEL: Yes, I mean at the outset, especially the last half season it was very good for us. Obviously the start of the season was not ideal for us and myself. I mean the first four races I didn't finish at all, I think I did one lap in total, so it was quite an expensive trip to the overseas races but what was important was that we didn't lose the focus. We were 100 percent focussed for the next races and I think if you are looking for a turning point, then we should mention Monaco. After that we were able to finish in the points. The last five races I think we finished all of them. First of all finished all of them and secondly all in the points, so it was very god races for us. Obviously there are two more to go and it would be nice first of all to finish them and in the best possible position.

Q: And what about your trip up Mount Fuji on Sunday night?

Vettel: It was good fun. I mean it was very special. We walked up there. I woke up at 2 o'clock in the night and started walking at 3 a.m. We were the first ones but surprisingly when we were heading to the peak, the top, there were some funny Japanese people standing in the corners and waiting for the sunrise, so we realised we were not the first. But you know it was a good experience. Obviously it was very cold up there, I think around minus 15 degrees, so we all had gloves and jackets, winter hats, winter gear which was absolutely necessary but it was a good adventure. It was good fun.