“The first session looked quite good for us. But it was always going to be interesting to see how quickly the blown-diffuser cars could get up to speed – and they looked very competitive this afternoon, particularly over a single lap. And the grip they appear to have through the high-speed stuff could make them difficult for us to touch.
“Nevertheless, I still think our race pace will be good, and we’ll keep pushing: this weekend is all about us taking as much as we can from the blown-diffuser cars while they have an advantage.
“As for the small misunderstanding with Michael [Schumacher], well, it’s always difficult to find a gap out there. I saw him ahead of me and I thought he was on a quick lap – then, all of a sudden, he slowed down to create a gap from the guy in front. Around here, it’s all about managing the gap between the guy in front and the guy behind. Fortunately, I missed him, so no hard feelings – and I hear he apologised anyway, so it’s all good. There’s no problem.
“Everyone’s always backing up here at the final corner, so it’s a bit like Monaco in that sense. And it shows just how tricky it will be to find a gap in qualifying.”
