Q: Olivier, your 150th Grand Prix at Indianapolis and you scored points. That must have been very satisfactory for you.
Olivier Panis: Ah well, I'm sure that the Indianapolis for us and for me was really good. One hundred and fifty Grands Prix is good, it's a number, it's good to have it but for me the most important thing is the result at Indianapolis. We looked really competitive all weekend. We managed the race very well, for everything with the many incidents that we had, and to finish fifth is good for the team and myself.

Q: What did you learn from Indianapolis, which direction do you push in now?
OP: We knew from the Grand Prix before Indianapolis that we were qualifying very well but we have some problems with the rear tyre degradation, more in comparison to everyone else speaking to Michelin. I think Indianapolis helped us a lot, because the tyres looked really, really competitive for us and also saved us with the problem that we have, and that's why we were very quick during the race. I think I did the fourth quickest lap time, which means something, 0.6s behind Ferrari which means we are on the pace. That's it really. I think we have a good compromise mechanically and aerodynamically in Indianapolis and we managed to score the result. It was really good.

Q: Can that translate to here though?
OP: Well, I think we find some direction to set up the car, particularly on the front to help the rear tyres and I hope it's working here as well.

Q: Speeds in Formula One are coming under scrutiny at the moment, not necessarily because of what happened at Indianapolis. What are your feelings about the speeds in Formula One at the moment?
OP: If I feel that Formula One is too quick then I will stay at home.

Q: But you don't think it's too quick for the circuits?
OP: Ah well, all the time we are speaking after accidents. I'm sure Ralf's accident was very bad, I feel bad for him, but I think it looks OK; this is the most important thing. But all the time we are talking about speed after accidents. I think that what we did with the FIA and all the drivers was really good because we improved the safety of the circuits, we improved the safety of the cars, it's fantastic, but we need to push for that and we need to continue. But at the end of the day Formula One is dangerous. That's what I feel.

Q: So you don't feel the cars need slowing down?
OP: Of course we need to do that one day, but for me, we need to have quicker cars in Formula One because that's why we're here, why we like Formula One and everybody else too and also we need to have some fighting, some overtaking even with drivers who perhaps take some a little bit of a risk. But this is Formula One for me. If you need to make a rule for speed, a rule for overtaking, a rule for everything, there's no point at the end of the day. This is my feeling. Somebody might not agree with me, but this is what I feel.

Q: What about your own future? We've asked you this before, but has anything changed since we last asked?
OP: No, well for me, I'm so motivated and determined. I'm working really hard with the team; both of us have been working really hard with the team for two years. Now I want to profit from the result, which is why I am continuing to push really hard and preparing for next year.

Q: When you both read all these stories about who is coming to the team, do you take them seriously or do you just ignore them?
OP: I just say welcome to them.

Cristiano da Matta: Well, it's the type of thing that you cannot do anything about. Because you're inside the team, sometimes we have a clue… many of the things we read in the press are all… sometimes they make no sense and some of the other ones we know make some sense. But obviously we cannot get too worried about it because at the end of the day it's not our decision, all we can do is do all we know, to do our best, to drive the car, to focus and to keep on trying to do the best job we can. If you want to stay with the team, this is how we are going to do it, not being worried about rumours and internet websites saying a couple of different things. We just have to focus on the work.

Q: Your preview comments for this race suggest that the car lacks downforce and perhaps that's what the advantage was at Indianapolis and perhaps could be the disadvantage here?
CdM: Yeah, I think at the Indianapolis as well as here… well, that our car lacks downforce isn't news, that we've known since the beginning of the year. I think what helped us at Indianapolis is that it's definitely the type of track where there is a long straight so maybe not having as much downforce as some of our competitors didn't hurt us as much as it could hurt at some other places. And also Indianapolis is a very smooth track so our car was running well there because of that also. We have some difficulties over bumps and kerbs and this kind of thing, so here, on the one hand, the downforce could hurt us a little bit, but on the other hand we could have the expectation to do well here and maybe to score points as a team, because the track is so smooth, it's the type of situation that kind of suits our car a little bit more than other types of tracks. So obviously here and at Indianapolis, we had both things helping us. Here we will have only one of them but still I think our target should be to be in the points at the end of the race. I think we need a little bit of luck to get that but that's what I have to focus on.