Lewis, a pretty good day, third fastest, how was it for you?
Lewis Hamilton: It's been a fantastic day for me. To go out, first time here for me in Melbourne, to go out of the pits, go out of the garage, down the pit straight for the first time, it was living my dream, so it's been quite a decent day. Obviously it rained at the beginning so it was quite slippery and to learn a circuit when it's wet is pretty tough, especially here with it being a street circuit and there's a lot of white lines around. But it went pretty smoothly, especially in the second session we made some steps forward and we're looking pretty strong.
Could you have imagined being third fastest?
LH: No, not really. As I said, it is a steep learning curve. This is testing so it's not really… tomorrow is what matters so we will see what happens tomorrow.
Has the whole weekend been fairly daunting, because there's a big build-up here?
LH: Not really, I think it's been like any other time when you're preparing your first race of the season. I haven't found it daunting or any different to any other time. I didn't expect it to be like that, but I feel quite relaxed about it.
Obviously in GP2 you've been using Bridgestones, has that been helpful in the move to Formula One?
LH: No, I don't think so. They are different tyres. I think the compound is quite different. Driving on grooves compared to driving on slicks is again, slightly different, so I've not really found it a benefit.
Heikki, eighteenth today, obviously not what you were hoping for…
Heikki Kovalainen: You are right there. Obviously it wasn't the best day for us, but in any case, I think the main thing is I managed to learn the circuit and the car balance feels good so we can look forward to tomorrow. I don't feel worried about that.
Quite strange that both cars stopped out on the circuit, it's not something we expect from Renault.
HK: No and we didn't expect it either. It's actually the same problem in both cars. The fuel system failed. We don't know any more details about what was actually the cause of the problem, but it is related to the fuel system. Shame it happened earlier for me, but in any case, Giancarlo's runs were promising so I think we are in good shape.
What do you think of the circuit?
HK: To me it's great. I find it quite exciting. It's quite difficult as well, but coming out of the garage, to be honest, wasn't any different to coming out of the garage in Jerez. I just turned the other way. I like it.
Like Lewis, you have a tough call this year being a newcomer in Formula One in a World Champion team. Is it a tough season, a tough learning curve?
HK: Yeah, for sure. Your first season in Formula One is always going to be tough but I think I'm well prepared and the team is well prepared, so we have to stay confident and cool and I think we can do it, no problem.
So what chances over the next couple of days?
HK: I think the chances are good. We need to work to the maximum, myself and the team, and then at the end we will see what the results are. I think at the moment we don't know exactly where we are, so we will find out tomorrow.
Jenson, I'm sure 13th is not what you were hoping for…
Jenson Button: I think it's probably quite realistic in a way. We haven't had the best winter really. We've been improving the car all the time but it's still not where we want it to be. As I've said before, this weekend is going to be a tough weekend for us, it's also a very important weekend for us, to completely understand what our issues are with the car.
Have the problems basically been the handling, balance of the car?
JB: Yeah, we're really struggling, as a few other drivers behind us have been, we're really struggling under braking. We just can't slow the car down, and we've got a stability issue as well. That's not all really… that's part of it. We understand the issues, I think, and we've just got to keep working very hard and this weekend is going to be a tough one in the way of results, I think.
With these Fridays like this, is it difficult not to be distracted by the fact that it's obviously followed up by two days of qualifying and racing, rather than concentrating on solving your problems?
JB: No, not really, because I think coming into this weekend we sort of knew where we were going to be, and that hasn't changed. We haven't suddenly changed our views on things. We know where we are and we've just got to get on with the weekend. Tomorrow's practice is also important to us to work a little bit more with the balance, because the longer runs are obviously slightly worse than the one timed laps so we've got to work a bit on that and get a consistent balance. Then we will be looking OK for the race.
So is there light at the end of the tunnel and if so, how far away is it?
JB: I don't know how far it is yet. That's the only thing, I don't know how long it is. I'm with a very strong team, Honda are very strong and we're very focused on our job and we're very committed. We're not just going to sit back and forget about this year. This is an important year and we need to get our heads down and solve our problems and that's exactly what we're doing.
