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Turkish GP: Thursday Press Conference

NEWS STORY
08/05/2008

Kazuki, this is a circuit like in Spain which you've been to before, if not in an F1 car. What are your feelings about coming here and how has it been to come to circuits that you've known before?
Kazuki Nakajima: It is much better. Even Malaysia and Bahrain I have been there and also Melbourne, so it doesn't make too much difference. Obviously Barcelona was one I knew much better than the other circuits. I raced here last year and the GP2 race was not bad for me, it was not a bad result in terms of speed, so I am looking forward to racing here. It is a great track to drive, it has got a lot of tricky corners and some high speed corners, so I think this going to be good.

So far this year you have scored points in two out of the four races which is an excellent effort. Has that surprised you?
KN: Not surprised but I think this year the fight for the points is very tough and I think it is very important to get points when you have the opportunity. I think I have done well and so far have scored five points, so I think in some ways maybe I am surprised I have scored five points. But that's my job to score points and for that I am quite happy.

Qualifying seems to go up and down a fair amount. Is it the car or what do you think it is?
KN: I think it is a bit of everything. But like in Barcelona when everything was working I think I showed I can do a good job in qualifying. That is the target to do well in qualifying consistently. I am getting more and more experience at the moment, so we will see from here to the rest of the season I think it will be fine.

Obviously points for you in the last race as well. That must have been encouraging especially with the upgrade you had as well.
Jenson Button: Yes, it was very encouraging. The first few races, in qualifying, were reasonable but I struggled in the race to have a good performance basically because twice I crashed at turn one. It was finally nice to get to the end of a grand prix and to be not just scoring one point, but to get three points on the board. It was a good race and the pace of the car was reasonable. There is a lot of work still to be done but the positives are we are improving and every race we go to we feel we are getting a little bit more out of the car, and so far everything is going to plan.

Have you got more bits coming here?
JB: A few little things. We have got a few tweaks here which should make a bit of time. Also this is a circuit which I think will suit our car a little bit more than Barcelona which is very bumpy and I think that ride quality is an area where we are lacking. We have got a few tweaks on that side and it is a smoother circuit, so I will be looking for a good performance in qualifying and then we will see. If everyone finishes it is very difficult to score points because you have got six very fast cars and you are fighting over two points but we will aim for points for sure.

What about the lack of traction control here? How much of a difference is that going to make?
JB: On this circuit in some places it's not going to be an issue at all because you have got a lot of positive camber which helps you through the corner. There will be other places where it will be difficult. The last three corners are very slow, so it is going to be interesting there. But also the temperatures aren't high here, so we are not going to be overheating the tyres or causing problems to the rear tyres in that way. But because it is a low temperature we might have issues with the graining on the softer tyre. We will have to wait and see.

It is a milestone for your team-mate Rubens Barrichello this weekend and he will no doubt be out celebrating.
JB: It's 257 races this weekend, I've been told.

It is!
JB: That's fantastic. And he doesn't look a day over 37!

Is he showing any signs of slowing down in his old age?
JB: No, he has been on it this year. He has been doing a very good job. It is good to have a competitive team-mate and a very experienced team-mate as he is. We have got a very good team and a very good team atmosphere and he is good to have alongside.

Robert, obviously you made your debut here in 2006. Fifth on the grid and eighth last year and this year, having said that, your positions so far this year have been second, third and fourth of the races you've finished. How do you feel things are going at the moment?
Robert Kubica: I mean Turkey is not really a favourite track for me and not the one where I have been lucky. In 2006 in my second race in F1 we had some problems with the tyres, last year I started pretty well but then faced some graining problems. I am looking forward as this year's car is a bit easier for me to drive and I am performing better, so I hope to turn it a different way on this track and hope to be competitive.

Qualifying, however, is still good. It is just in the races that the positions are going down this year.
RK: I think it depends where you look and how much fuel you get. In Australia I was first row but unfortunately I could not finish the race due to the accident with Nakajima. In Malaysia I started with a heavy car and improved my position. Okay, in Bahrain it was difficult to face Ferrari and in Barcelona we were very close with McLaren, so we knew we had to stay in front of them after the first lap. We didn't manage with Lewis Hamilton but still the race pace I think was very strong.

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