Felipe, it looked like a brilliant qualifying session for you: quickest on both your last two runs and the only man under 1m 12s in qualifying.
Felipe Massa: Yes, it’s a fantastic feeling. Being back in Brazil, with pole position is always fantastic. In qualifying I had a very good first attempt and in the second I made a small mistake. I improved my lap time a lot but I made a small mistake and afterwards I was a bit afraid that Lewis could beat me but it was a good lap and I was quite happy to come back here in front of my people. It was big emotion.

Pole last year and you won the Grand Prix, but a different Interlagos this year, a different track surface, much smoother but I guess the same atmosphere.
FM: Yes, the atmosphere is always the same. Yes, they are very nice people, they enjoy being here at Interlagos a lot, being here with the Brazilian flag and that’s amazing. I think last year we had a fantastic weekend. This year it was a good start, so hopefully we can finish in a similar situation as we finished last year. It would for sure be another dream.

A new track surface, but very very close between you and McLaren Mercedes.
FM: Yes, it was very close between me and Lewis in the end. I was also slightly expecting my engineer to maybe say P2 but in the end one tenth was close but it was enough to be in front. The asphalt is pretty nice, I have to say. We don’t have the bumps like we used to have in the past. It’s very smooth and it was a great job by the Brazilian people.

Well done to you, Lewis. I’m pretty sure you’re where you want to be; do you want to know that you were actually fastest as you went into that last corner and it was very close between you and Felipe. You almost had the pole.
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, very close. I really enjoyed the qualifying session actually. We seemed to have very good pace here, the car was great to drive and the team did a good job as always in getting us out in good space. Yeah, it was a really good lap. I think I just lost a little bit of time in the last corner. It wasn’t a mistake. I just didn’t want to lose what I had up until then, so I lost half a tenth or something like that. Apart from that, it was a close to perfect lap and I’m very very happy, a good place for us to start.

It looked like an interesting fuel-burning period as well, you leading the pack and everybody seemed to be going for an extra lap if it was out there. It was pretty quick and of course you and Fernando had a stacked pit stop as well with Fernando right behind you.
LH: Yeah, it was good to get out first. The team as always did a really great job and I like to be at the front of the pit lane, I think it’s a good place to be, get out there with a clean head and no one messing around in front of you. Yeah, we came in, obviously I was ahead of Fernando but I just had to – as soon as I got my tyres on – leave as soon as possible which worked perfectly actually. I just came out each time close to Kimi and just had to let him past but otherwise it was perfect.

Well, speaking of a clear head, a slight glitch yesterday with a very small infringement on the tyre regulation. How are you faring up to the pressure: Brazilian Grand Prix and a big day for you tomorrow?
LH: It’s nothing to do with pressure. It wasn’t me, you know. I sit in the car and I do what I’m told and but that was just... we made a slight mistake there but that’s the way it goes. But we got a fine, fortunately I didn’t have to pay for it but we’ve come in today, we’ve got the pace. I feel very confident for tomorrow and I really hope the weather’s good and we can continue and have a good weekend.

And what’s it like from Lewis Hamilton’s point of view going into what could be the biggest day of your life?
LH: I’ve not reached that point yet, and I’m just buzzing, I’m really buzzing. I’m really excited, I feel very relaxed, the car feels great underneath me, I love the circuit and the food here in Brazil is great and the fans are extremely enthusiastic. I’ve seen quite a few British flags out there, so I’m very very happy to see that we’ve got some support.

Kimi, quickest in Q2, not quite there in Q3. How do you feel about your lap? It looks as if you ran a little bit wide coming out of turn four?
Kimi Raikkonen: Yeah, I got sideways in turn four, lost some time, but for sure it could have been a better lap but I think the car was not too bad itself. The first try I didn’t really get the tyres working as I wanted, but the second attempt was good until that point, and even after that point, but it was a bit late at that point already. I think we still have a good race car tomorrow, we’re still in a good position to start, so I need a gap and we just need to go for it and see what happens.

I suppose you don’t need Lewis Hamilton ahead of you on the grid; how do you see the Ferrari v. McLaren Mercedes battle tomorrow?
KR: Probably as close as it’s always been. It’s going to be a long race, a hard race. I think the tyres will be a bit on the limit, so I think whoever can use the tyres in the best way probably will make a bigger difference. Hopefully we get everything working and we can achieve what we want.

Felipe, returning to you for final thoughts: in a grandstand position tomorrow with the World Championship to be decided around you and you’re on the pole.
FM: It is important to do a good start and I’m sure the fight behind me – hopefully behind me – will be a big fight and I’m sure it will be very nice for the spectators to watch a nice race, a nice fight between these three guys. Hopefully I can drive to victory.