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Die Pressekonferenz nach dem Rennen in Orignialsprache ohne Untertitel

POST RACE PRESS CONFERENCE - 13 OCTOBER 2002
1. Michael SCHUMACHER (FERRARI), 1h26m59.698s
2. Rubens BARRICHELLO (FERRARI), 1h27m00.205s (+ 0.506s)
3. Kimi RAIKKONEN (McLAREN), 1h27m22.990s (+ 23.292s)
 
Q: Michael, you have increased your record to 11wins in a season and 144 points and the records keep tumblingin. It has been an incredible year for you hasn't it? MichaelSCHUMACHER: Yes it has to be said, that is true. I don't thinkit is necessary to say more than that the result speak for themselvesand it is fantastic -- and what has been most fantastic is thatwe have not been for one race. We have finished all the racesand not only that, but all on the podium and that shows the qualityof job the mechanics have done. It is unbelievable what they haveachieved. Today has been exceptional in two ways because we havewhat we have done and the Japanese fans have two winners -- withme winning the Grand Prix and Sato taking his first points inhis home Grand Prix so I guess the fans had a good grand prixand they were very excited.
 
Q: Suzuka is a circuit where you always go well,but today you opened up a gap of 2.3 seconds after a scaldingstart and it was job done wasn't it? MS: Well that's the majorpart, yes. Yes, if you get a good start, and you get a gap, andyou can plan your race, you can put everything in order to havethe pit-stops at the right time. That was the only plan, honestly,because once you are out in front it is difficult to be overtaken.I have been all weekend very fast and I was not surprised thatwe could pull out the gap to the others, in all honesty, and theonly thing you can say is 'be happy and look forward to a nicewinter time and be relaxed and strong and ready for next year'.
 
Q: Rubens, you also made a good start and kept thoseMcLarens behind you and then ran a clean race and you and Michaelare now the most successful partnership in Formula One. RubensBARRICHELLO: Yes, of course, I am very happy about that for myselfand for Ferrari and being part of such a family, with such a car,it is incredible. I had a good start, but the car bottomed outtoo much in the first few laps and I struggled a bit. I had tobe careful and Michael opened up quite a big gap to begin withand it was difficult to cope with that in a way, but as we havehad such a great season, and I have two wins from the last threeraces, it is just a great achievement for me.
 
Q: This was Bridgestone's 100th Grand Prix and victoryon their home circuit must have been pretty special for them today?RB: It is, yes, and we have been together these past three orfour days and it has been a wonderful season for them. They workvery hard for us and we for them and it has paid off. It's a strongrelationship and it is going to be even stronger next year sowe are happy for them and they are happy too. To win like thisfor them is fantastic.
 
Q: Kimi, did you change your race plan after losingfourth place at the start? Kimi RAIKKONEN: Maybe yes a littlebit because I was stuck behind him (Ralf) before the pit stopand I was a bit quicker, but he ran longer than me and I was ableto pull away.
 
Q: What happened at the end when you seemed to havesome problems and then sped up again just before Ralf pulled outfrom third place? KR: Yes, we had some problem and I don't knowwhat it was and I had to slow down on the back straight and thenwhen I came into the chicane and slowed down everything was normalagain. Ralf then had some kind of problem with the engine or somethingand I was a bit lucky. But if I am lucky once a year then it isnot a bad thing.
 
Q: How much holiday are you going to allow yourselfMichael? MS: From our point of view, it is a little bit easierbecause we have done our job and we can relax until the engineerscome back with a new car. We are normally back testing in Januaryand maybe we will have some reasons to go and use the three-weekopportunity to go testing in November-December and we will findout if it is necessary. As said before, I'd also like to complimentBridgestone for a superb tyre for a very special result. It wastheir 70th win in 100 Grands Prix and together with us and itis a superb achievement by them and I am very happy for them ontheir home ground. Another word I would like to say to Ross whohasn't been able to be with us this weekend. It is the first racehe has missed in all his time (with us) and I think he is disappointednot to share this moment with us, but we know that you think aboutus and we think about you and we hope you get well soon and welook forward to seeing you in good health.
 
PRESS CONFERENCE Q: Michael, are there times thatyou don't really believe this year has happened? MS: No. I don'tbelieve it's anything to do with luck. It's hard work. Our guysdo get the car as reliable as they can, and what I do in the caron the other side, so I don't think really it's because of luck.In a way, it is unbelievable that it can happen. None of us wouldever have expected that we would be so successful. But that'sthe way it is, we celebrate it, we know it will basically be impossibleto repeat because I'm more than confident that unfortunately ouropponents will get stronger so the situation will get tighternaturally.
 
Q: Does that worry you, or is that just a furtherchallenge? MS: It is a challenge, in all honesty, because I stillfeel that with what we have and what we are going to have we willstill be able to fight for wins and still be a runner in the championship.Whether we win it or not is another matter, obviously, but aslong as that's the case, I don't think it's really necessary tobe as dominant as we are. As long as we can win races, then that'sfine too.
 
Q: They always say that winning is like a drug,you just want more of it. When you haven't got any more of it...MS: Well, yes, that's true. That's why I still believe that wewill be able to do so, maybe not so consistently any more.
 
Q: What about today? The car seemed absolutely perfect.MS: Yeah, no problem whatsoever. Bridgestone brought a fantastictyre here which lasted and kept together very well. It was spoton. No, it has been a superb weekend. All through the weekendwith the exception of the second free session on Friday it hasbeen straightforward.
 
Q: Were you ever worried about the Michelin runnerstoday with the warmer temperatures? MS: Put it this way, it isa new tyre and we haven't been able to do a long run in theseconditions so it is always an unknown. You come to a new circuit,you don't have the 100 per cent experience but we were confidentit would be OK.
 
Q: And how was 'virtual' Ross today? MS: Well, weknow he's around and watching us. He's like Big Brother and beinginformed of everything. I think it has been a great job by theguys who have stepped into his shoes. It's not an easy positionto fill as successfully as he has been and things we have celebratedtogether, but as there was no real complication today, it gavesome comfort to the guys.
 
Q: Did he talk at all in the race, or at the endof the race? MS: No, he didn't come on the radio. That's a bitdifficult to organise. In Europe it's a bit easier but here it'sa bit more difficult.
 
Q: Michael, just give us an idea of what happensover the next couple of weeks, now? I believe you're in Misanonext week; are you still doing the final World Kart race? MS:No, unfortunately some events have been organised in between sincethen so I won't be able to do this, so I think it's Misano, thena couple of events which are not really public events that I haveto do, and that's it.
 
Q: Misano, the big celebration! MS: Misano is goingto be another big celebration, yes, but one tonight first.
 
Q: Rubens, well done today as well. What about Michael'sstart and that first lap? RB: I had a good jump but I lost outa little bit to Michael but then when I went into the first fewcorners my car was really bottoming a little bit too much, andI didn't want to spin on the first few laps, so I saw him goingaway and then I was taking care of the tyres as well. I was puttingthe fight off to a little bit later, but it wasn't the case asmuch as it was in the US. He had a little quicker pace over thelaps, and he pulled out the gap slowly more and more so when thepit stops started it was difficult to be in that one or two secondlead area. It was five to six seconds, and then after the firstpit stop, the tyres were doing alright but I had to come in alittle bit earlier because the balance wasn't so great, so thefight was really like that. There was no way I could have gonein first place today.
 
Q: Was the balance the only problem today? RB: Yeah,the car felt good all the way through, in comparison to our competitors.We may have gone a little wrong on the set-up for the race. Theguess was a little different than the way the final version cameabout, but the car was still very competitive, the tyres weredoing a fantastic job. It was just a case of when I saw that Icouldn't get Michael, to keep up the pace, keep up the concentrationand try to be as fast as I could.
 
Q: Kimi, when you had that problem on lap 48, youmust have really been worrying, given the bad luck you've thisyear. KR: Yes, it was a little bit funny when your car suddenlyslows down and you don't really know what's going on, but luckilyit recovered automatically. Just when I slowed down in the chicane,everything went normal and it was OK.
 
Q: Were you beginning to think 'oh no, not again?'KR: Maybe a little bit. I don't really know what was the problem,and it was good that it fixed itself.
 
Q: After David had had his problem, did they comeon the radio and give you different limits? KR: No, no, I don'teven know what happened to David, just that he slowed down, that'sall.
 
Q: Any other problems during the race? KR: No, notreally. I didn't get the best start and Ralf got in front of meand then before the first pit stop I was a bit quicker than himbut then he ran longer before his pit stop and pulled away a littlebit more. Then I had a moment at the exit of a corner and rana little bit wide but that was all.
 
Q: At the start, it seemed that you caught up Davidand then had to back off, which let Ralf come around you? KR:Yeah, a little bit, but Ralf had already come up alongside meand then I went inside, but had to back off because David wasthere and then Ralf came around the outside.
 
QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR Q: Question to Michael,some people criticised you because you were so dominant. Did youthink that was a fair?
 
MS: In all honesty, I would rather be criticisedfor being dominant than being too slow. Sometimes you have totake some criticism. Q: Last year you told us you didn't thinkyou had had a dominant season; would you accept that you had thisyear?
 
MS: Maybe. Yes. Q: How long are you going to carryon doing this? You've got just about every record; do you gettired of this at all?
 
MS: No, because - I can only repeat myself - it'snot the driving that is my motivation, it's simply the love ofthe sport that is the drive for what I'm doing and I'm still hungryfor more. Q: Michael, when you retire, who has the best chanceto be the next number one?
 
MS: You know I don't know when the next young generationis coming, who it will be, because it will be quite a while thatI will be around. Q: Michael, why do you think you have fewerpoles than last year?
 
MS: I think last year we had a specific car whichworked fantastically well in qualifying. Sometimes it was a littlebit more difficult in the race. This year maybe we orientateda little bit more for the race. In the end, that's a little bitmore important. Q: Are Ferrari going to run this car at the startof next year?
 
MS: No, the plan is to have a new car for the firstrace next year. Honestly, if we don't achieve this, if we feelthat we're not reliable and we're not ready, then we have a goodmachine that we could start the season with, but that's not theplan. Q: Michael, how are important have the tyres been in thisdominant season?
 
MS: They are very important and you have seen races- like in Australia - where we have been flying ahead of everyoneand then we came to Malaysia and it was almost the other way around,only because of the tyres. Nothing else was changed physicallyand that shows how important tyres are. Q: Are you going on vacation;in which country would you like to go?
 
MS: Maybe Japan. I don't know yet. Put it this way,I don't want to discuss my plans for the winter.