GP2 Monaco - Qualifying press conference

GP2 Series: Giedo, congratulations on pole position today, set at the last minute: happy with your session as a whole?

Giedo van der Garde: Yeah, very happy! It was quite a big mess, and I was on a big flyer in the middle of the session and came to the swimming pool, arrived very quick and Turvey was in front, so before I arrived I went to the right, he turned in as well, so we hit and my front wing was off. So I came in, changed the front wing, and had only one lap to do it: it was just a perfect lap.

GP2 Series: A little bit of pressure! And all the yellow flags couldn’t have helped much...

Giedo: No, no, it was quite a big mess, a lot of yellows and even a red flag I think, so it was not ideal but that’s Monaco: every year it’s the same, and I’m just very pleased. The team gave me a perfect car, we worked hard, this morning we had some problems and only did 3 flying laps and the hydraulic pump broke, so we didn’t have a lot of laps. So to have pole position in Monaco, it’s such a great feeling!

GP2 Series: You’ve got your hand taped up: is it okay?

Giedo: It’s a bit bruised because when I hit Turvey the steering wheel was moving all around, and there’s a little cut in there too. It should be okay tomorrow.

GP2 Series: And tomorrow, start P1: what are your thoughts?

Giedo: It’s a track where it’s hard to overtake, everybody knows it, more or less the car has always been quick in the race here for Addax, so let’s make a good start and try to win the race!

GP2 Series: Sam, P2 in a pretty torrid session: how did it look from your position?

Sam Bird: I’m very happy with second again, it’s great to be on the front row again and it shows that we’ve been nice and consistent this year, and I’d like to thank iSport for giving me a super car again.

We’re working very hard on trying to get all the compounds quick: we started well in Turkey on the medium, were quite good on the hard in Barcelona, and now on the soft in Monaco we’re there again, so credit to them again for giving me a car that’s capable of being at the front all the time.

GP2 Series: You had a couple of incidents on the way: how did you see those?

Sam: I’m sorry with Dani (Clos), because neither of us wanted that to happen, definitely, definitely, definitely. I tried to give him room, and I wanted him to take the room: I was saying come on Dani, go, but he never really went, and then I had to turn and we touched. I don’t think there was any damage to my car, I don’t know if there was any damage to his car, but it was really unfortunate: I’m sorry for it, I think it was a bit of a racing incident, but I’m sorry for it. As for the second one, I don’t want to comment on it.

GP2 Series: Front row in Monaco is a good place to start: what are your thoughts for the race tomorrow?

Sam: Again we’ve got to be sensible, we’ve got to take points and come away from the weekend with more points: that’s the secret of doing well in this championship, I think. We’ve given ourselves the best opportunity with qualifying second, and now we need to capitalise on that and see how many points we can get.

GP2 Series: Jules, P3 today with a quiet drive in an eventful session: how was it inside the car?

Jules Bianchi: Yeah, for me it was pretty good, nothing happened really, I was happy and just pushing, so I have nothing really to say. I did a good qualifying, my last lap was an improvement and I did my best lap, but anyway I did a small mistake in the first corner so I think we could fight for pole, but I’m quite happy. Even if I get a penalty for tomorrow, I think I will be in the points.

GP2 Series: It’s so difficult here, so tight, so I guess you have to be satisfied with a result like this?

Jules: Yeah, for sure. I have to be in the points tomorrow, and that’s it – I have to come back in the championship, so I can’t do any mistakes, and that’s it.

GP2 Series: With you moving back a few places from here tomorrow, do you think it’s possible to overtake during the race here, considering the super soft compounds?

Jules: Maybe with tyre degradation, but I think for sure it will be really difficult.