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British GP: Thursday Press Conference

NEWS STORY
07/07/2011

Daniel, what a birthday present. July 1st was your birthday and that was pretty much the day you were announced a Formula One driver full-time.
Daniel Ricciardo: Yeah, it was quite a nice birthday present for me. It was quite a big surprise. I didn't expect to be racing Formula One this year so it's a huge opportunity for me and still a bit of a shock. But I am sure it will all be realised come Sunday.

You must have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Silverstone. The last time I saw you here you ended up on your head, having flipped at the start of the World Series by Renault race, last September I think it was. Yet here you make your grand prix debut.
DR: Yeah, some mixed emotions here but generally I have gone well and it is one of the circuits I enjoy. I had one of my greatest races here back in 2008, with the Formula Renault, so it's been good to me and it is quite close to my second home in England. I am able to sleep in my own bed this weekend, which is nice. Just looking froward to going out there and trying to do a good job.

What is your aim basically. Obviously the HRT isn't exactly known as a front runner. Does that worry you? Is your only real rival Tonio Liuzzi, your team-mate?
DR: It doesn't worry me at all. As I said it is a huge opportunity to get a chance to race in Formula One. It is something I have dreamed of since I was a boy. For the race I think the first aim is to try to finish and just get the miles under my belt and the experience at this level of my career. That's the most important thing. Never done a race this long so physically and mentally to find out where I am, I think that is going to be good. If I can try and be competitive compared to Tonio, he is very experienced, and I am sure I can learn something from him so we will see how I go.

Rubens, you virtually grew up at Silverstone, obviously, with your F3 races years and years ago. What do you think of the latest version of Silverstone. Amazingly enough the weather doesn't seem to have changed, but apart from that I am sure you have seen so many changes.
Rubens Barrichello: That will never change – the weather. It's the same every year we come here. You look on the TV, they had some sun but it seems like it is going to rain exactly when we come here. It is all good and part of the show. I think Silverstone has been fantastic in what they have done. The track is, the layout and the corners for me, it is one of the best. It is the one I enjoy the most. The facilities now seems to be up to Asia standards and it is all good to go.

Now, you are also a former winner here and six times on the podium as well. What are your thoughts about this weekend with Williams?
RB: Well, I think the new rules won't change much the top end. I think the fight between Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari, they were all pretty sorted so they might lose something but it might not change the places very much. But it might help the other teams such as Williams to come a bit closer. How much I don't know. We also have new stuff on the car such as new front wings and some different things that should help ourselves so I am hoping for a competitive weekend. We will have to see what the weather is going to be playing. But I would love to get into Q3 and to finish in the top eight. I think that is a real target for the weekend.

What is your reaction to the news on Monday that Renault will be powering Williams next year?
RB: I was thrilled. I was glad that Williams is working very hard to get back to the top. This is one of the changes. I have been to the factory a couple of times this last week to talk to new people, talking to everyone, and the attitude is very good. If I did say a couple of months ago that I needed Williams to get their act together and do things, they are, so I am very proud of that and I think it's going to the right direction as far as next year is concerned.

Jenson, this will be your 12th British Grand Prix. Two-time fourth place, your best here, so how badly do you want to win this race?
Jenson Button: Yeah, I haven't even got on the podium here before in an F1 car. That will be my first aim. It is one you would love to win, your home grand prix. We all want to fight for a World Championship and I think we all want to win Monaco and I think we would love to win our home grand prix. It is the one I haven't achieved yet so that is something I will be fighting for and this is a pretty special race for us as Brits. We get a lot of support from the public here. To see so many Union Jacks and St George Crosses around the place and the rocket red caps, so it's a really, really nice atmosphere. Hopefully we can put on a good show for them this weekend.

Do you think with the new regulations there is a chance there?
JB: There is always a chance. Whether it is a big enough one I don't know. I think if you look at the last race you'd say the Red Bull was very strong and we were quite a long way behind them. But we have updates for this race, which hopefully will help us and also we have the difference in the blown diffuser this race and the electronics. That might help us more than the other teams. I don't know, it might not. That's something we just have to see when we get out on the circuit. But I think the important thing is that we have done a lot of preparation work for this race with the new components and also running with the new blown diffuser system. It's about preparation for this race. This is a pretty tough circuit to get out onto with the new package so preparation is key and I think we have prepared very well and hopefully that will show tomorrow when we get out there.

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