Lewis, what a day for you.
Lewis Hamilton: It's been a fantastic day and already a fantastic weekend. The team has done a fantastic job as you can tell. We have got the pace on the rest and it came down to this; we had to pull it out to the last minute and it's not easy, especially when you have a two-time World Champion hunting you down but I did it. I stayed strong today and I owe it all to the team, but I'm really happy with it.
You'd never been to this track before, never driven on it before Friday. You learned it very quickly. Tell us how long it took you to learn it and tell us about that quick lap?
LH: Well, it took a while to learn yesterday. Even though it looks quite a simple circuit it's actually quite demanding physically and mentally and it's quite technical. We worked very hard to get the car set-up right. Yesterday was a good day, I stayed out of the barriers which is always good, and when I went home I had time to think about yesterday's practice and what I could do today to improve and for that final lap, you know, going into P3 we'd improved the car, and for that final lap the car was sweet. I had a very good gap, the cars were perfect and I really just had to pull it out. The most important thing was that it was consistent. Each sector was… I know Fernando was quite quick at the beginning but at the end of the day, I didn't make a mistake and got the time, so I'm just thrilled.
You knew you were quick on that lap but that last corner is always very tempting.
LH: It is, especially when you do a very very neat lap and you know it's going to be quick and you're coming up to that last corner at 210 or whatever you're doing and you think…shoot, just don't mess it up. I came in there and I went quicker than I've ever been. I nearly brushed the wall on the exit but that's all part of it and honestly, I was just so chuffed when I came across the line and they told me I was P1.
Fernando, you probably don't want to hear it but you were purple, you were quickest for most of that lap and it seemed to go away in the last sector, maybe even the last corner.
Fernando Alonso: Yeah, well, it was in the hairpin, in turn ten. I was running a little bit off-line and put some marbles on the tyres and I lost the grip there and I lost three tenths in that corner, so there was no point any more in risking (anything) at the last chicane. I completed the lap, safe enough to bring the car home and the first row will be enough for today, and tomorrow we have another chance to try to win the race.
Many people thought Ferrari would bounce back after Monte Carlo; amazing to see the speed of the McLaren Mercedes team here.
FA: Yeah, I think we have been developing the car and it was fine in Monte Carlo which we know is a special race. It seems that if we can keep up that momentum here as well in Canada, why not in Indy? Definitely the car has improved from the first two or three races, so now we are a much stronger team and we can fight at any circuit now.
Nick, another great performance for BMW Sauber: third in Australia and third again now in the Canadian Grand Prix.
Nick Heidfeld: Yeah, I'm very satisfied with that, especially as I lost a lot of time this morning in P3. Actually, I only did one timed lap. We wanted to save some mileage and then in the end I had a hydraulic problem, so it was very difficult to get used to the track conditions as the wind has changed a lot for today.
But lower downforce on the cars here, the car obviously responding to that and keeping the level of competition you've had from the start of the year.
NH: Yeah, we could only hope that we would be strong here again, as the team has been over the last couple of years. Actually both teams have been: BMW has always been strong on high speed circuits and Sauber was as well and it proved that we are strong. As you said, Indy is probably similar in terms of downforce and I'm also looking forward to Monza of course.
Lewis, your final thoughts on the race tomorrow; no question it's going to be close in any dimension, whether you're thinking about your team-mate or indeed Ferrari and BMW.
LH: Yeah, tomorrow is going to be tough, as always, but I've not been fortunate enough to yet start on pole, so tomorrow is another new experience for me, but we've got the car, we've got the strategy, we've got the team. I need to just make sure I get a good start, get into the first corner first and just stay consistent, but I feel fantastic, I've never felt so good, so I'm looking forward to it.
Press Conference
So Lewis, you continue to live the dream!
LH: Absolutely, absolutely. As you can tell, I'm just delighted. It's been an amazing day. To come to Canada, my first time, it's been tough, it's not an easy circuit to learn and Fernando has been extremely quick and so have the BMWs and Ferraris. But we dialled in the car in P3 and I had an opportunity to go out and put it on pole and this time I took the opportunity and grabbed it with both hands and did the best job I could with it.
How many laps had you done on McLaren's simulator? Had you done a lot of laps before you came here?
LH: No, I did about five laps but we didn't really have time because we got stopped, we had a meeting to go to. But I got here on Wednesday, went out yesterday and it was just like learning a new circuit, like going out on a circuit you've never ever been on before, so even if I was playing a Playstation it wouldn't really have made much difference. I had to learn… the curbs are different, the gradient changes, the bumps. It doesn't really help, it just gives you an idea of where the corners are and perhaps what gears you should be taking.
