Kimi, what a fantastic opening weekend for you with Ferrari!
Kimi Raikkonen: Yeah, it has been good. OK, yesterday wasn’t perfect but I think the weather was the issue yesterday and today has been pretty good. We found a good set-up for the car. Unfortunately we didn’t have as good a result as we wanted as a team – Felipe had some problems – but hopefully we can sort out those problems and have a good race.

It looked to be a well-paced qualifying session; not brilliantly quick in Q2 but fast when you needed to be in Q3.
KR: Yeah, I think in second qualifying the main thing is to get through and not really do anything silly. It was good in the last qualifying. I’m not really exactly happy with the car but it was quick enough and we need to do some work for tomorrow.

How does it feel to be a Ferrari driver?
KR: It feels good. We have a very good team, everything works well, it’s a good atmosphere and I enjoy it a lot, so I couldn’t ask for anything more.

Congratulations to Fernando Alonso, starting your first race with Vodafone Mercedes on the front row. Tell us about qualifying and your feelings about your new team?
Fernando Alonso: I think it’s been a difficult day for everybody. In the morning, we had some drops of rain again which was a little worrying. Qualifying is always difficult and the first qualifying of the year is always a little bit more stressful because you need to get used to the system again and for me, especially with a new team, getting used to the approach they have for this qualifying. I felt really really confident with the car all weekend. It’s true that we were a little bit up and down in the time schedule and I think at the end when we need to be there we are there. I think starting tomorrow is fantastic news. I think the team has done a fantastic job over the winter to make the car work and competitive. I don’t think we can forget that they weren’t so competitive last year so they’ve made a huge step forward. I think we drivers need to say thanks to the people.

You were saying yesterday that you need to adapt a bit more to the tyre-car package. We had higher ambient temperatures today, how did you feel about that qualifying lap of yours in Q3?
FA: I felt OK but it’s true that you need to adapt yourself a little bit to the new tyres. For me it was a little bit of a double job because I need to get used to the new car and also the new tyres, so sometimes I can be a little bit confused but I did most of the job during the winter, so I just need to tune my style a little bit. It will come soon, I hope.

It looks like it’s going to be a very close race between you and Ferrari tomorrow?
FA: I really hope so. For sure, I think it can be very interesting. I think we have been very competitive all weekend, even if yesterday we were conservative. I think we put everything together in qualifying and we are there, so why not tomorrow? I think we will be very good.

Nick Heidfeld, a great resurgence in the second half of last year for Sauber BMW and that momentum continuing into the Australian Grand Prix; a fantastic result for you.
Nick Heidfeld: Yes, very clearly. We had a good winter season, but you never know until you get to the first race, but now it looks like the winter results are the same here. It’s fantastic to be in P3 at the moment.

How do you view your performance at the moment, the best of the rest or are you really in position to challenge for the race win?
NH: In my view, Ferrari is still ahead. Before we came here we thought that as well and hoped that we might be in the pack behind them. Honestly I’m a bit surprised that Renault wasn’t quicker today. I expected them to be there as well. We will only see tomorrow in the race how things are going. It’s always the same, you never know how much fuel the others guys have, but we can be pleased.

Many drivers are talking about the difference between last year’s car to this year’s with the new tyre package, the Bridgestone tyres. What’s it like from your point of view?
NH: Obviously it’s difficult for everybody, but I don’t think I have big problems getting used to these tyres. I have found it more difficult to get used to the tyres in terms of set-up and how you treat them rather than changing my driving style.

Kimi, back to you; how do you see the race itself and the challenge from your old team?
KR: I think we have a good race package. I think we are more confident for the race than we were for qualifying. As long as everything works well and we don’t have any problems, I think we should be OK but you never know. So many things can happen. Usually the race here is quite a funny one, but we will do the best that we can and hopefully we can win. For sure the others will try and beat us which is a pretty normal situation. It is going to be close but we will do the best that we can.

Press Conference

Kimi, it couldn’t be a better start to the season could it?
KR: Not for me, but for the team it could have been, but hopefully we can find out what is the problem and then we don’t have the same problem anymore.