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Brazilian GP: Thursday Press Conference

NEWS STORY
12/11/2015

Jenson, if we could start with you, a former winner of this race of course, back in 2013 and you clinched your 2009 world championship here as well. But clearly this year the reliability challenges continued in Mexico, so what sort of shape will McLaren be in this weekend?
Jenson Button: Well, first of all, I wish it was 2013, it was actually 2012, but it was a few years. But I think we all love coming here. There's always a fantastic atmosphere. A lot of world championships have been decided here, so a lot of great memories for many drivers and for the fans as well. For me, coming here this year, it's obviously not going to be an easy weekend but it will be better than the last one definitely. So looking forward to it and we'll get the maximum out of what we have, which is always what we do.

You've had championship years, race-winning years, but you've also had some tough years as well, so you've been in this position before. When you have a tough season, presumably you always want to take something out of it that you can use as a platform for the year that follows. What will you be taking out of 2015?
JB: Lots of learning. It's obviously still... I know we keep saying it, but it is still a very young partnership. We've learned so much this year with the power unit, with the idea of the aerodynamics of the car, because it's very different to a normal McLaren, so there is a lot of learning to take from this season. We obviously need to make a big step next year - we know that - so it's going to be a long, hard winter, but an exciting one as well.

Thank you for that? Nico, coming to you, it's been a strange season for you in many ways. Obviously you had great success, winning Le Mans during the summer, but in Formula One less than half the points you scored in 2014, some bad luck clearly in there as well. However, on the upside Force India are virtually assured of fifth in the Constructors', which was the target, so can you consider this season a success.
Nico Hulkenberg: Yes, definitely a season with two faces, but most importantly for the team that we come away with that fifth after Abu Dhabi. I think we need three points over Lotus this weekend to secure it. That's the main target. Like you say, for me personally there have been some really good races and some struggles but I think that's how it works in a long season.

The team has scored 81 points in the last nine races, since you brought the car on stream, is that the limit of what this team can achieve or do you think you can use this a platform for more next season?
NH: That's the idea, that we can continue growing and use this solid base that we have now with this car to develop more and get closer to the top for sure. The key will be the winter, that we really develop in the right direction and keep moving forward, but I have good faith in and trust in the team that we can achieve that.

Coming to you Felipe, a two-time Brazilian Grand Prix winner of course. It's pretty much certain now that Williams will end the season in third place again, so is that a success given the level of the teams you are racing against, or is there an element of disappointment that you couldn't move up from where you were last year.
Felipe Massa: Well, first of all it's always a big pleasure to be here, racing at home, where I was actually born, where I actually started learning anything about racing - on the other side of the wall on the go-kart track and then to have a chance to race here, in a place where I remember going to the grandstand and standing up every lap that a Brazilian guy was passing, so it's really a dream for us to race here. A big welcome for Felipe [Nasr] for his first time here and I'm really looking forward to do an amazing race. Fortunately, I managed to win two times here and I'm really looking forward to having another opportunity to achieve another victory here, which is like a dream for us. So we'll try everything we can. I would say we are third in the championship with a good margin to the fourth, but also unfortunately a good margin to these guys here [Ferrari] in second. So I think it's a good championship. You cannot say... you always want more. For us inside the team we are not 100 per cent happy because we want more. Unfortunately, we did not have everything in a perfect way to finish even second. But I would say it's a positive season for us. We did a good job. We worked well at many, many races. We fight with the big teams, which I think we cannot forget that. Definitely we want more for next year and we want to finish where we are, in third, which I think it would be OK to do that, especially in the two tracks [remaining], that I believe we can be competitive [at] and we can fight for podiums and have a really strong performance. So, yeah, I think it's positive. Last year we started not in a really good shape; we finished in a really, really good shape. So we managed to get third at the end, which everybody was really, really happy [with] and this year we were third during the whole championship. It's better than last year but we definitely want more.

We've just experience incredible levels of enthusiasm for Formula One at the Mexican Grand Prix. Formula One has been in Brazil for many years now, so what's the level of enthusiasm like here at the moment?
FM: Actually, here in Brazil there has always been a big enthusiasm. I remember most of the years that people... or the drivers, or the people that work in Formula One, they were always saying it is an amazing place. People are really, really excited. You can the people, the way Brazilians support the race, us as Brazilian drivers, our mentality is really, really. Definitely it was nice to see what happened in Mexico and I think that's what Formula One needs. I think everybody was really happy to be in Mexico, to race in that atmosphere, you know, people rally enjoying whatever practice, whatever time we were on the track. That's what we need. I'm sure we will see a lot of support here in Brazil, in our way, but it was very nice to be in Mexico and to see the people were supporting Formula One.

Coming to you Felipe [Nasr], continuing the Brazilian theme, amazingly your first time, I think I'm right in saying, racing here at Interlagos since 2008? But you are Brazilian obviously, so presumably you feel a certain magic at the prospect of racing here.
Felipe Nasr: Yeah, for sure it's going to be the first experience. A whole new weekend for me, being at Sauber this year. I had a little taste last year with Williams in Free Practice One and all I can say is that I just cannot wait to see all this energy. The atmosphere is going to be amazing here with all the fans. I feel there are a lot of people following the season and especially, you know, for myself coming first time here in a circuit that has so much history, so much nice moments in the past with all the Brazilian drivers and I'm just about to begin my own... so it's a pleasure to be here and hopefully coming out of... if we can score a few points here it would be nice to share with everyone.

You've got 27 points on the board this year, in your rookie season, more than double your team-mate's score. Are you pleased with the impact that you've made on Formula One in your first season?
FN: Yes, I have to be pleased. It's been a tough season for us. We started pretty well, I think other teams were still struggling with the reliability of the car and we were able to get some nice opportunities at the beginning of the year to score nice points, especially in Australia, in the very first race. That fifth place was amazing. I couldn't ever ask for more in my first ever race in Formula One. For me it's been a season of a lot of learning as well. Getting a lot of experience. I've learned a few new circuits as well and of course we've struggled to carry on the development of the car but we knew we were going to face that at some point in the season. We see, for example, the McLarens are much closer to us now. Only nine points behind, so we're trying our best with what we've got. Hopefully maybe a few more points until the end of the season and especially here in Brazil would be a nice way to end up the season.

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