Fernando, the conditions out there appeared to be diabolical; what a day!
Fernando Alonso: Yeah. The race was quite difficult because off-line there was a lot of dirt and dust coming from the tyres and you cannot make any mistakes. If you go a little bit off-line you lose one or two seconds and we saw a lot of this type of incident throughout the race, so it was not easy to keep the concentration, leading the race with a nice gap but never confident on any of the laps.

Talk about the handling and balance of the car and how it was affected by the two safety car periods.
FA: Well, it was good, perfect all weekend. Obviously, without the safety cars, the gaps would have been much bigger, an easier race but you know the safety car sometimes helps you, sometimes not. But the main thing is to win the race as we did again and we had perfect Michelin work again, giving us a fantastic tyre.

Michael, close behind Fernando at the end.
Michael Schumacher: Yeah, thanks to the safety car everybody got together again. It was just a shame that there wasn't another ten laps left which could have made it a little bit more entertaining. It was very easy to go off line and then to lose a lot of time. A tough race in a way but due to the beginning, it was sort of pre-decided and at a certain moment I just had to drive according to the situation which I did. There was not much more I could do. Obviously when the safety car came out, we went a little bit more on the attack and luckily we gained a position.

And of course you were catching Fernando in those last couple of laps; what were your thoughts at that moment?
MS: Yes, as I said, I wished the race could have kept on going for a bit longer but then I don't know; you really need a mistake although I have to say that in these conditions it is easier to make that kind of mistake which then may lead to an overtaking possibility. But it was as it was, we kept the damage as small as possible. We didn't have a perfect weekend but we managed to have a good result finally, so we go from here on.

Kimi, pushing Fernando in the early stages of the race, but time lost in the pit stops.
Kimi Raikkonen: Yeah. It wasn't the easiest race. The car was pretty good to start with but then at the first pit stop we had a problem with the clutch and when we put the clutch in the wheels were still spinning so it took a long time for them to get the rear wheel on and then at the second pit stop the car just stopped because the clutch wasn't working any more. I also lost second place to Michael on the second last lap or something. I just got on the sand or whatever you call it. The circuit was breaking up in a few places, so when I got on that there was nothing I could do. It wasn't ideal but anyhow we got some results and for me it doesn't really matter whether it's second or third if we cannot win, so I don't really worry about it.

You appeared to be carrying more fuel in the second stint; what affect did that have on the tyre wear in that situation down at the hairpin?
KR: I don't think that that was hurting any more than if we'd had a little bit less fuel. The car was not maybe the easiest to drive but the problem was more the circuit breaking up so that made it more difficult than anything else.

Do you think your car was maybe more affected by that than Michael's for instance?
KR: No, I don't think so. I don't know. It's hard to say but it was just a mistake and it cost us one place but that happens sometimes.

Fernando, Indianapolis coming up in a week's time. Ferrari a little bit slower in qualifying, but right there in the race and the championship still very much alive.
FA: Yeah, today we had the opportunity to have Fisichella in front of Michael and Kimi. At the end, Michael managed to finish second so the gap is not increasing too much. But Indianapolis is another chance to win again and to increase the gap again.

Press Conference

Fernando, how much satisfaction does it give you to win this one today?
FA: It's fantastic for me again. All the victories are nice but this one, after the last two or three years, having the opportunity to win and always something happened, mistakes coming from me or mechanical problems, it was one of the races that we should have had in the previous years and now we have it.

How hard was Kimi pushing you during those opening stages?
FA: Very hard. Some laps I was quicker, some laps he was quicker, I don't know why, because I was pushing always to the maximum as I think he did. But it's true that at one moment he nearly overtook me, going off line in the hairpin, in turn ten. The conditions were difficult and he was putting a lot of pressure on me.

It seemed you only had that one moment off line; otherwise it seemed that it was perfect every time. Were there any scares?
FA: Yes, there were. There were three or four, especially in the second stints. In the third stint, I had a 20 second gap, with no more pressure, so I was driving quite slowly, but in the second stint I knew that Kimi had more fuel than me so I was pushing to the maximum and two or three times I went off line and I lost one or two seconds again. It was not easy all race.