British GP - Post-race press conference - Pt.2.

Questions from the floor:

Q: (Bob McKenzie - The Daily Express)
Lewis, you mentioned that the last couple of weeks you've had troubles. Has that been tough and how much has today justified what you've been saying?

Lewis Hamilton:
Yeah, it's just the last couple of weeks I've been flat out, working very hard and just a lot of travelling and many different things, and different emotions going on in my life. We'd obviously had a couple of bad grands prix and coming to my home Grand Prix it would have just been nice to start with a clean slate and then get some points or even a win. I know the country deserves it and the crowd deserves it, and the team does as well. I thought that we would be coming here and that a one-two was possible. I haven't seen the results as yet, I don't know what happened, but it's just been a great weekend for all of us. It's all been in the right direction, there's been no negativity, for me it's just been very, very positive and I get a lot from that and I'm very much thankful. Things happen for a reason. I stay true to my faith, things do happen for a reason and I'm here for a reason, so I'm very thankful.

Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association)
Lewis, many congratulations. Your great hero Ayrton [Senna] was a master in the wet. Did you learn anything from him when you studied all those video tapes or is it just your natural ability to drive in the wet?

LH:
There was not really a lot that I could take from Ayrton. All I knew was that he was spectacular in the wet, and growing up, it was something that I wanted to master as well. I think there was a time he said, or just from the way he drove. He just showed that if you can drive in the wet you can do anything and really the top drivers rise to the top and so along my career, I just worked very, very hard to be sitting here where I am. But it does comer very naturally, I'm very sensitive. I feel very comfortable in the wet, knowing where to push, where not to push, and I think that's the result today.

Q: (Jon McEvoy - The Daily Mail)
Lewis, you said that the last few weeks have been hard and that your family have been with you every bit of the way. I was just wondering today what maybe your father or [brother] Nick or whoever it was said to you and how they managed to get your mind right for the race?

LH:
I think my mind's always been right. I just have had a lot on my plate really. It's some of personal life... it's nothing too serious, but it's just life in general. I want to win, so working very, very hard, making sure there were never any doubts of my abilities. It was just biding my time and keep working hard, keep chopping away and you eventually get there. Just before the race I spoke to my brother, he came to my room and he sat there and I said 'I just hope I keep it on the track.' And he said 'don't you even worry about that.' He said 'you're the master in the wet.' I just said 'thank you for that.' He's always there, my whole family, my dad's always on the grid. He would never miss a race, and he's been there since day one. We still do the same handshake as we always did from the first race I ever did, and that means a lot to me. Just like family, even for you, I'm sure. Your family is there through thick and thin, and there's nothing that they won't stand next to you for.

Q: (Paul Turner - South Wales Evening Post)
Lewis, you seem to be able to keep your head in those conditions when at least half of the grid are losing theirs. What's your secret?

LH:
No particular secret, it's just the way I am. As I said before the race, I managed to get a lot of energy and I was able to control that in the right way and use it when needed. But today was not a physical challenge, it was just mental, just mental. I don't know how I've done it but I did it and that's the most important thing.

Q: (Takeharu Kusuda - Lapita Magazine)
Rubens, could you tell us about your feeling in the car when you passed the finishing line?

Rubens Barrichello:
It's obviously been a long time without that but up to now I've had a great career. I know the feeling on the lap just before you conquer something. It's just a great feeling. You could hear on the radio my engineer Jock Clear saying 'you don't need to take those risks in keeping the lap (time) down.' I wasn't taking any risks at all, so if you're certain of that, because it's so funny that people outside are so scared. Oh man, he's going to put a wheel wrong or something, so it's very nice to be in that situation. When I crossed the line, I wanted to shake every hand of the Honda personnel, and I almost stopped the car to put my hand up to them because they deserve it. They work flat out and the lack of results is not just bad for myself but it's bad for the whole team. So for them to get that - the factory is literally two minutes away - and in such a good way, it means a lot to me and to them.

Q: (Jon McEvoy - The Daily Mail)
Lewis, we wondered if you were a bit busy over the last few weeks. You were going to see Nelson Mandela almost every other night last week. Were you ever worried with the sailing that you did, the schedule that you had? Were you worried that maybe you would lose a bit of energy and should we have been worried?

LH:
No, I don't think you should have been worried, and that wasn't what it was about. Meeting Nelson Mandela was the most overwhelming experience. It took a lot out of me to really understand what was going on. Then I had a job to do, which I always want to perform at my best, not only in the car but away from the car. But to be honest, I think the biggest emotional build-up was just not wanting to let down the fans. I know how much support I have, I know how much my team believes in me and I've got a fantastic team-mate who's pushing me all the time. That whole build-up... you try to contain it but there's so much excitement and that emotion is just overflowing all the time. Just trying to balance that out... Then I had this big cut on my face, nearly knocked myself out earlier on in the week. Then you're worried that you've got this fat lip and everyone's taking pictures of you all the time. It was just dealing with everything. I think I've done a good job, I'm very, very happy in the end.

Q: (Mike Doodson)
Lewis, before you were born, 24 years ago, Nigel Mansell was racing at Monaco in very wet horrible conditions. I know you've studied a bit of history. I wondered if you knew about that. He was going too fast and he spun off. At one time in this race you were going six, seven, ten seconds faster than everybody else. Did you slow down because of your own decision or were you getting advice from the pit?

LH:
I had to slow down because the team were telling me that it was forty seconds, 48 seconds, you're five or eight seconds or whatever it was faster than the guy behind and I'm thinking, hold on a second, what's going on? I'm not even pushing. I'm driving to a comfortable pace. I didn't want to slow down because the moment you slow down, you perhaps lose concentration, so I just said 'I'm comfortable at the pace I'm going' and even then I was a silly amount quicker than everyone. So I really had to be very, very sensible. Imagine I was a minute, sixty seconds ahead and I came off, and I didn't win. There would be no way you could come from that. That would be the most embarrassing thing. You would have to retire. I was comfortable with the pace I was doing but I asked the team 'how much slower can I go?' They gave me a margin which I was comfortable with, yet I still did a 1m 36s and that was quicker than I'd been in my last stint. But I was comfortable there. The car felt good, I felt comfortable where I was. I think I lapped quite a few people. It was easy enough for me to back off but by the time I got past Heikki it was too late to take the risk of backing off and coming together with him, so I just had to keep on going forward and so it was just about managing it.

Q: (Will Buxton - Australasian Motorsport News)
Rubens, 1993, your third race ever, I believe, Donington Park in conditions not too dissimilar to this. Just your memories of that and the fact that the British Grand Prix is going to return there in 2010 and whether you hope to be there?

RB:
Well, conditions were actually very similar. The visibility in both was very difficult and so on. Obviously, we were in different cars in different eras. But when it comes to this question, it's like I have a wall and I'm on top of the wall. One side is Silverstone, the other side is Donington because I have great memories from my Formula 3 times and from Formula One at Donington and so on. But I love Silverstone. I think that Becketts is one of my top three corners in the world. Obviously, when it comes, I think I will just open my arms and just take it. I think Donington is a great circuit if they make it safe for Formula One. It's going to be a lovely event. But I cannot just say that I will forget Silverstone. Silverstone has been quite important for me.

Q: (Ian Parkes - The Press Association)
Lewis, it's said that many people learn more about themselves in times of adversity. You've touched on the fact that you've had a really tough few weeks. Just how much will these past few weeks help you in going forward, and just exactly what have you perhaps learned about yourself?

LH:
Yeah, I think that's true. There's a quote that Martin Luther King made and I can't remember it word by word, but he was saying something like: it is not the times where we triumph and are successful that make us who we are but it is the times where we are at our lows and we are going through our troubles that really build us and create you and make you who you are. That's a long way off the actual quote he gave but I remember reading it and that is a very important thing. Today, and this whole week has been tough but when you take all that in, you learn more and I think even when you're racing, when you lose, you learn a lot more because you learn how to improve.

Q: (Alan Baldwin - Reuters)
Lewis, you've led the championship twice this season now and each time you've lost the lead. Is this now third time lucky? Can you hold it to the end of the year?

LH:
It's difficult to say. I don't believe it's going to be third time lucky. I think it's a work in progress. We're doing a good job and I've just got to keep on building on it. As I said, I would have been happy with a point from this race, which would have just put us in good stead for the next race, but we're in a good spot now but you can tell that there's a lot of competition and we've just got to keep on scoring points.

Q: (Ian Stringer - BBC Radio Leicester)
Lewis, your thoughts on the grand prix moving from Silverstone to Donington?

LH:
You've been asking me this question all weekend and I've not given you an answer! I totally agree with Rubens: this is a phenomenal circuit. For sure, I will be sad not to have a race here in a year because just as drivers in general, you're very comfortable when you got to circuits. You have some that you prefer more than others and this is one of my favourite circuits. But times change and Donington is a fantastic circuit. I've had some great memories there in the lower categories, so I'm sure that, as Rubens said, if they can make it safe enough for us, I'm sure it will be a great event. But I hope, one day, we can still come back here and re-live the Silverstone experience.