Australia- Drivers interviews

Before this weekends Australian Grand Prix the usual driver's press conference featured Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing) Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) Felipe Massa (Williams)Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull Racing) and Kevin Magnussen (McLaren)

Here’s what they had to say

Sebastian Vettel: “It's a long year. Our pre-season testing, our preparation, hasn't been ideal and, yeah, we're probably not in the best position for this race but I think it's a different story when we think about the championship. There's a long way to go. It's obviously a tough step for all the teams, all the drivers, a lot of new things to get used to. We know that obviously we're not in the best shape yet. There are a lot of things we need to solve. Unfortunately, you can't solve them overnight. We'd love to but we can't. So you really have to go step by step, together with Daniel, I think just trying to be as precise as we can, trying to give the engineers the best feedback possible about the whole power unit so that we move forward on that and also talking about the car because at this stage it's a bit unknown where we are. It's not a secret: you need very, very strong reliability to be a title contender, so we'll see- I'm looking forward to tomorrow and especially Sunday to get a feel for the new regulations and see where we are”

Fernando Alonso: “I think it's very difficult to tell how competitive we are at the moment. We'll get some answers in 24 hours or 48 hours, we will know a little bit more than we know now. The car itself and the technology that Formula One brought this year are a little bit complex to everyone. We are learning and we are developing the car every day that we work on it. As I said, a little bit of an unknown situation for everybody. We just need to put everything together, maximise what we have, and see where we are”

Lewis Hamilton: “it's very technical this year and we're all in the same boat. We're always trying to find where the advantages can be between two drivers. From race to race I think you'll see- one race he'll be ahead, one time I'll be ahead, same as you saw last year. Obviously the goal is to be ahead all the time. I probably speak for all of us that last year's car felt better, it was perhaps a little bit nicer to drive, when we had lots more downforce. But that was a car that was in the fourth year of its evolution. Now we're in a new phase and it's just something that just takes some time to get used to. The sound, for example, is not as impressive as what we had in the past but once you get all the cars on the track, on the grid, I'm pretty sure it will be impressive for the fans still”

Felipe Massa: “I think it's new to everybody so maybe we start having some answers this weekend. Not all of the answers but some. I'm really happy to be with Williams. Really enjoying the working with it to now, to feel the car and the working. It's a lot to do. You can never forget that it was a very difficult time for Williams in the last years and it's a lot to do, a lot of work, a lot of development going on inside the factory, inside the team. So many new people arriving – including me. But, I'm pretty motivated. For sure we can be there. I don't know how competitive we're going to be compared to the other teams. Maybe we will see teams better than us – I don't know. Maybe we can see ourselves fighting with them and be as competitive as the top teams like these three guys here – but I think it's just the beginning. I feel the team is really motivated. They want to grow, they want to get better and they want to be back in the good times. So I feel a lot of understanding for the people. I'm really happy with the people I work with, they're really professional”

Daniel Ricciardo: “I think we're all a bit unsure how good our cars are. Speaking for all the drivers, I think we're just curious and hanging out to get on the track this weekend and see where everyone stands and get a clearer picture. I've had a busy week leading up to the race and I'm probably more excited than anyone else right now to get in the car. I think for now just focus on what I've done the last few years and keep doing what I've been doing to get to this point – and then assess it from there and see how it's going. Obviously I get a good view behind the scenes from the engineers of how Seb works with his guys and understand a little more through that as well – but for now it's just do my thing and see where I stand off that and we'll work from there”

Kevin Magnussen: “It is a dream come true and every day is fantastic at the moment – I'm sure it will keep staying like that. I'm just really excited to be here. It's been a long winter, since signing. I've been looking forward to this weekend but yeah, feeling good. It's been a good winter in terms of preparation with the team. They've done a really good job in terms of preparing me for this. It's not easy. It's a big job, a big challenge but I think I'm pretty much as ready as you can be these days. I've done a lot of work over the winter but I'm not underestimating the challenge that I'm facing. It's a big challenge but I'm looking forward to it. I think the whole testing we pretty much ran the launch car and were behind a little bit on development – but the car feels good. If you didn't know the lap times of the other guys you would think that it's pretty fast – and that's a good sign. If we can just put some downforce on the car and keep developing as we did over the winter with the car, I think we can be in a good position. The team obviously come off a difficult season and they are massively motivated to come back to where they belong and that's a good feeling.”