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Canadian GP: Thursday Press Conference

NEWS STORY
07/06/2012

Paul, if I might start with you, a good weekend with both cars getting into the top ten in Monaco. How good is the dynamic between you and Nico [Hulkenberg]? Is there a fair amount of pushing one another and a good partnership?
Paul di Resta: Yeah, Monaco was a good weekend for the team. Obviously where we qualified… we went forward and were lucky with some cars not finishing. But, I think to achieve what we did there was a massive result for the team. I think me and Nico have a good relationship, we're obviously pushing each other along but also trying to develop the car because we feel that we're a little bit behind the likes of Sauber and Williams at the moment. And to overcome that we need to be doing a good job in the race. Over the weekend you've got to maximise what you have, and that's what we're going to try to achieve again this weekend.

Do you feel that you just need to hit the Pirelli sweetspot, or is it more than that? Is it, as you say, the development, and even do you look at the results of Maldonado, Sergio for example in Malaysia, and say 'hey, that should be us.'
PdiR: I think the tyres are difficult, we're not going to deny that but I think we've achieved that at some tracks and that's where we saw some good results for us. Certainly Bahrain, we got the car in an operating window but I think it's a bit more and we need to understand the car a bit more in terms of what we're bringing in terms of upgrades. That's what we're trying to achieve. But I have every confidence the team will achieve that because last year our development rate went very high from mid-season, so we're certainly hoping we can do that this year. I don't believe we're getting the maximum out of the car yet but we'll try to achieve that this weekend again. It's a different philosophy, obviously, being a bit lower downforce here. So hopefully that will suit us slightly better.

And are you expecting to go up a gear in terms of development in the middle third of the season?
PdiR: I think so. It wasn't a secret that we struggled at the beginning of the year, to what we initially first thought. Since then we've rapidly moved on. If we can do that… I think we bought a good upgrade to Barcelona. We obviously developed that forward over that weekend. Monaco was difficult to understand how much so I think here will probably be a truer reflection on what we can expect for the up and coming races.

Jean-Eric, first of all I understand you are nearly a Canadian, you have been here so long.
Jean-Eric Vergne: Yeah, I can fake the accent.

Tell us what you've been doing, because you've been here a few days
JEV: I got invited to a nice hotel at Sacacomie to the north of Montreal. I was in the middle of nowhere and had a few days relaxing, doing some sport, it was quite nice.

And the Cirque du Soleil?
JEV: Yeah, I was there yesterday with Daniel Ricciardo. In the morning we were training, learning a couple of tricks with the guys in their factory, and then at night we get invited to the show. It was quite amazing to see.

And how much have you learnt?
JEV: I learnt to go high, and there was a circle thing [German Wheel], you had to go inside, upside down. Motorcycles as well. It was OK.

In terms of racing, obviously you had a good race at Monaco, overtaking Michael Schumacher. That must have been a pleasant moment. Looking at your qualifying. You've been out-qualified by Daniel 5-1 but you've out-raced him 4-1. Is that a fair assessment?
JEV: I have to say qualifying is quite hard, compared to what I was expecting. I guess it's going to come: I have the speed, I can show it in the racing. Monaco, unfortunately I hit the wall before I could make a good lap, so, yeah, I wouldn't say unlucky but I pushed a bit too hard and didn't get a proper time. It's just a question of time, I have to take it easy, I know I have the speed and I know I have a car to be able to be in the points sometimes. So yeah, I think that will come.

I read that you say this is your favourite circuit - but you've never raced here…
JEV: On the Playstation! It's a track I like; I've been driving on it as well in the simulator and I quite enjoy driving on it. I hope it's going to be the same in reality tomorrow.

Sergio, you only did three laps last year. Do you remember much about the circuit?
Sergio Perez: Not really, it is not a circuit that I know well, not really from the few laps I did in FP1 last year, because after the accident I could not race here. So, I had to go back home after FP1. Hopefully this weekend can be a lot better. I think we have a very competitive car and we can fight for a podium here.

Have you done a lot of laps on Ferrari's simulator?
SP: I've done some laps in the simulator as well. I think it's a circuit where it will not be a problem to get up to speed because I've done enough laps already in FP1 last year.

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