Q: Firstly, a question to you all. What have you been doing during the break?
Jaime ALGUERSUARI: I was racing World Series by Renault, my other championship. I did a race in Portimao and it was really good. I won and after this I was back in Barcelona. I spent a couple of days in Ibiza with my family, that’s all.

Q: Luca, I suspect you have got quite a story to tell?
Luca BADOER: I did not have a holiday. I just worked very hard in a physical way because after Felipe’s accident and Michael tried to drive the car it was very clear for us that, if Michael was not able, then it was my turn. I kept really concentrating and thinking about everything I could do to be in the best position for the race. I did really a lot of training.

Q: So training every day in the gym. Any driving?
LB: I drove a go-kart because I think it is very good for general training. Obviously I did the special training for the neck with my special machine to improve all the muscle and the resistance of the heart, so I was pushing really hard.

Q: Lewis, what have you been up to since the last race?
Lewis HAMILTON: Not too much really. Nothing particularly fancy. I spent some time with my family and then I spent the rest of my time in Los Angeles with my girlfriend, so just chilling at home.

Q: On the beach in LA?
LH: I did go to the beach on two days in LA but the water is freezing, so I didn’t go in the water. And otherwise I did a bit of training and just good food.

Q: But you haven’t put on any weight?
LH: No, no way.

Q: Jenson?
Jenson BUTTON: I spent a couple of weeks in the South of France with my girlfriend and friends. I did a triathlon as well in the UK which was quite fun, the London Triathlon. I did the painful bit then I had some fun.

Q: And Fernando?
Fernando ALONSO: Nothing really.

Q: You don’t look as though you have been in the sun?
FA: No, not much.

Q: Just at home?
FA: Yes.

Q: Jaime, your feeling after doing your first grand prix. How do you feel you got on?
JA: I got quite used to the car and at the end we managed to finish the race with no mistakes which was a little bit our aim, our main objective for that weekend. Now we are back to Valencia. For sure it has to be a little bit better step-by-step and hopefully we can get a little bit more in qualifying and also try to finish the race. That is the main objective again for the weekend.

Q: Were there any surprises in Formula One as far as you were concerned in Hungary?
JA: Well, I mean I expected to be very bad. I expected to be physically really bad in the race but at the end we managed to finish it. I think it was not as bad as I expected, so I am looking forward to the next races.

Q: And what are your feelings about racing in Spain, in your home country?
JA: I think it is always good to race here. I raced here last year with F3 and I have a good feeling for this track and hopefully we can do a good job this weekend. It is always good to be in Spain racing.

Q: Luca, do you remember your last race? When was it?
LB: I read in a newspaper that it was Japan 1999.

Q: So how prepared do you feel for this race?
LB: I mean my last race was 10 years ago more or less but I did in these 10 years close to 150,000kms with Formula One. I am used to doing two races in one day because of the tests, sometimes we did two races in a day, so it is not that really I am worried for this aspect of the situation. I am used to the race as before I did a lot of races. If you think for somebody who had never raced maybe it is a problem but I know what it was in the past, so I have an idea. I am in a better position than somebody who didn’t have a race, so at the moment I am very calm, very quiet.

Q: Not excited?
LB: Yeah, in a way I am very excited as this is my dream. To drive for Ferrari in Formula One was for all my life being simply a dream. Now I can have it and I am the happiest driver in the world.

Q: Do you think you have probably earned it after all the testing you have done?
LB: Yes.

Q: Lewis, after winning in Hungary how was that feeling for you?
LH: It was a great feeling. It was fantastic going back to the factory and seeing all my team in the red tops and being greeted by everyone and just to see the smiles on all their faces after clearly a very tough season so far. It was a great way to start everyone’s holiday as well. It was quite a good period for everyone to see everyone able to relax and go back and spend some time with their families. I think it was a perfect weekend to begin that.

Q: Give us some idea what it has taken for the team and yourself to get to that stage, to get back on top again?
LH: Well, I think before the beginning of the season, before the first race we were a good two-and-a-half, almost three seconds off the pace. For the first race we brought a huge amount of updates to the car. The team were pushing way beyond our means and way beyond the actual power that we had as individuals. Everyone was working way overtime and whilst we were making those changes to catch up, everyone was making a step forward, so perhaps you did not see the impact it had but in the car we felt it bit by bit get better. Clearly at the last two races we had made a much, much bigger step to be able to keep up with the other guys. That is really just due to the team never giving up and never thinking for a second I am going to leave that aside, I am going to leave it for another day. No-one lost the determination. Everyone just kept pushing and even I have been back to the factory and seen everyone’s determination and enthusiasm and it had an impact on me. It is just a family environment with us all pushing together and working to achieve our goals.

Q: And the chances of you staying on top now?
LH: I hope so. We are going to do the best job we can. Again we just have to take it race by race. We know we have got a lot of very competitive teams around us who will continue to improve during the season but it is just a great feeling for us to know that we have that competitiveness back in the car.

Q: Jenson, what has been going wrong? Do you genuinely feel that you can be back on top again?
JB: Well, you know we have got to hope. I think we understand the car much better than we did one or two races ago. It looks positive and we have got to hope when we get onto the circuit tomorrow that it feels positive and it is not just what we see in the data. We have made some steps forward since the last race and I think we have also looked at a few of the areas that we thought we had improved in over the last couple of races. We have looked at the possibility of going back on those changes. There has been a lot of work going on in the time that we have been able to over the break and we come here with a positive attitude. We have had a great season this year. If someone had said to me ‘you could win six of the 10 races’ I would have bitten their arm off. It is just they all happened at the start of the season. But we can be strong again. This car is not bad. I think that we have just maybe gone slightly in the wrong direction. But we will pick up our pace for sure. I really enjoy this circuit. I think it is a real buzz to get a good lap around here, so I am looking forward to getting out there tomorrow and seeing where we are.

Q: Is it operational or engineering changes that you have made in the past?
JB: The changes with the car that we have made, some of them are definitely positive. Some of them maybe aren’t so. It does make it very difficult in season if you do take slightly the long direction because you can’t test and you can’t do comparisons and it is very, very difficult going to a circuit that is dusty on a Friday. It is very difficult to do a back-to-back with a big change as it can take a long time to make that change to the car and you lose a lot of circuit time. But I think going through the date we understand the car which is the most important thing and as I said we have made some improvements which should help us a little bit. I know everyone is making improvements but we have got to try and stay on top of it as we need to get some good results. We can’t finish off of the podium. We need to be on the podium as often as possible but it is very, very competitive now. You haven’t just got the Red Bulls who are strong. You have got the McLarens, the Ferraris, the Renaults and even the Williams has been competitive. Nico (Rosberg) has finished in front of me the last three races, so we need to get back on top of it. I have got an 18.5 point lead but that could disappear very quickly. We are not going to get to worried, we are just going to stay positive and work out our issues as we do have an advantage. 18.5 points is quite a bit but we need to make sure that we go into this race and we have a positive attitude and hope that we can get back to the front again.

Q: Fernando, how confident were you that you were going to be here at all at this race?
FA: 99 per cent.

Q: So you didn’t think that the penalty was going to stay?
FA: I was hoping not as I think the penalty was too hard on us. I was confident that at the end everything was clear for us and we were ready to race in Valencia. I think the team was quite optimistic on that and they sent the trucks and everything one week before the appeal, so I think in our heads it was 100 per cent racing in Valencia.

Q: Your race here last year was pretty rotten. How are you feeling about being competitive this year?
FA: We will see. Obviously it is going to be a tough weekend. I may say now that I think the times are very close and it is so competitive now. From second to 12th it is only two or three tenths, so we will try to be in the front part of that pack. At the Nürburgring we were the fastest lap in the race or in Hungary with the pole we try to do some good races and try for a good performance here in front of the home crowd. We know it is going to be difficult. Last year it was a bit difficult as we only did one corner before Nakajima hit me, so hopefully this year I can finish the race as I said in front of your own people the worst thing that can happen is if you have to retire.