Kimi, you were there in the end but it was a difficult day with the conditions and, of course, at one point you were sitting in third behind Ralf Schumacher.
Kimi Raikkonen: Yeah, after the pit stop when the safety car came in we stopped and changed the tyres, put fuel in, so Ralf was quite a bit lighter because he didn’t stop so I didn’t push at the beginning because the tyres were really bad straight away. So I tried to look after them and then finally when it started to dry out my tyres were in very good condition and I was able to start pushing and I was catching up the rest very quickly and it was good.

You were spectacularly quick when Juan Pablo went in and leading by six seconds when you came out from your pit stop.
KR: Yeah, it was unfortunate for the team whatever happened in the last few laps because we could have had a one-two and we deserved it. We had a perfect race for the team and we were very unlucky what happened. I was happy with the car and everything how it went but we deserved to have both cars on the podium.

How did you pace the early laps of the race when you were following Juan Pablo?
KR: We had a decision that we don’t want to race against each other too much because there is no point as long as we can pull ahead of the rest and then we see what happens at the end of the race. But I was quicker at one point and then we stopped and he was very quick after the re-start and I couldn’t follow them but then I was also trying to look after the tyres and I caught him up in the end. I think it was a different way of driving and maybe a different set-up so it was a slightly different speed at the end of that race.

Fernando, you were in the background for most of the day but right there in the end to score the second place, which is very critical to the championship target.
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, it’s good. Conditions were really difficult for everyone today but we have a competitive car and we don’t need to risk at this point of the championship so the weather conditions was not a help this morning because I think a normal result is better for us than a fantastic race like we saw today. But sometimes it can be good and sometimes it can be bad. We did our race, our maximum, no mistakes, the car was moving a lot in the high speed corners, the rear end, I think Fisi had the same problem as me, obviously, because he had a problem in turn three so I really just backed off and tried to take points home and the second place is much better than I had expected.

At that first pit stop under safety car conditions we saw a number of drivers trying drys then coming in again for intermediates. Did that thought cross your mind?
FA: Every stop we did the dry was a little bit of a conversation on the radio already two or three laps before the pit stops but I think we did the right thing. There was no point to risk anything in this part of the championship for us. We just try to keep on the safe side.

The intermediates proved to be very good over the full Grand Prix distance.
FA: Yeah, it was tough today. We have to say thanks to Michelin, all the Michelin drivers, because we started the race with quite wet conditions and we finished with quite dry conditions and in both cases we were extremely quick, so they did a fantastic job from last year to this year.

And then Juan Pablo made it easy for you at the end of the race.
FA: Yeah, again I had some help from McLaren and I was able to take two more points. It was not really important, third place was perfect for me but second was even better.

Jenson, this is your seventh consecutive finish in the points and the first points ever for BAR-Honda at a circuit that has not been too kind to the team in the past.
Jenson Button: No, and I didn’t think it was going our way at the start of the race either. I was really, really struggling with oversteer on the first stint, I didn’t even need to turn into the corners, the rear end was coming round! After the first stop we adjusted the win, went out on slicks which was the wrong choice so we came back in and put intermediates on and the car was working very well. It was nice to catch up on the leaders in the last few laps.

What was it like in the pitlane, a narrow pitlane here at Spa, with all that activity taking place.
JB: It is very difficult and a lot of the teams were bringing in both cars so it made it a very busy pit lane. I obviously couldn’t pull into my box until Taku had gone because he was in front of me at that point, so it made it very difficult. But in the end we made the right choice at the second stop to double stint the tyres and I think that paid off for us in the end.

And some good racing in the end there with Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello.
JB: Yeah, definitely. It was a very fun race and those conditions always bring that to a race. It was fantastic, but a lot of it I have got to say thanks to the team, they have done a fantastic job in the stops and also double stinting that set of tyres was the right way to go, so a big thank you to them.

And of course they are not too used to changing wheels that much in a race these days.
JB: Exactly, I think they got a bit of a shock when we came in and were changing tyres so often, but they did a great job.