AL1's Australian GP Podium Press Conference

Hello there ladies and gentlemen, and welcome W2WR's AL1's 1st podium press conference for season 9 at Melbourne, and today we have our top 3 drivers, Michemery, Calspur And Tigaby.

We'll get under way and ask our race winner, Michemery, the first couple of questions:

Q1: Congratulations on getting the top spot here at Melbourne, was it as hard a race as it looked now the cars are different to last years cars?

A1: Yes, it was a very tough, Calspur was mighty quick on the supersofts in the first stint and i couldn't break out of DRS. We went onto separate strategies, i pitted on lap 12 and close the gap to Cal who pitted around lap 25. By that point I had a 12 second lead. He put the Ultrasofts and was closing by 1.5 seconds a lap, more or less, so he eventually caught me eventually. I knew i ahd to defend hard otherwise the race was his because if he got in front, he would pull away massively. We made contact a few times and he damaged his wing which cost him time. We both pitted on lap 42 for ultras where i managed to build a gap,, which was about 2 seconds when we came out. I managed to get it out to 5 seconds by lap 47. The cars mean that it is harder to get close and slipstream is less effective this year so i could just keep Cal behind. But i love driving them, and my pole lap felt really good.

Q2: There are a few new drivers this season, and from what we saw in both qualifying and the race, they seem to be pushing you hard, have you had to change your driving or strategy to compensate?

A2: Yeah, Cal is really quick this year and is going to give me a really hard time. I haven't changed my driving style, i just feel so much more consistent and a more complete driver compared to last year. I think it will be a mega championship battle.

Thank you, we'll be back to you shortly.

We move onto our 2nd place driver, Calspur, for the next couple of questions:

Q1: Congratulations on a podium place on your debut race. How does it feel being up here in your debut race?

A1: It feels great, being among other fast drivers, it mean't i had to push harder than ever without making mistakes and that is a tough thing to handle, as demonstrated when fighting with Mich.

Q2: Do you feel that you can push harder now the 1st race nerves are out of the way?

A2: Definately, knowing your driving style of other drivers is something you need to get used to, whereas many already know each others, i just had to get used to it. I feel i am a bit more confident when racing and will have to see how it turns outs in the next race in Shanghai.

Thank you Calspur and congratulations.

Now we have a couple of questions for our 3rd place driver, Tigaby:

Q1: Well done for being up here on the 3rd step. After a disappointing season 8, how does it feel with the new cars and team?

A1: It feels great to ve in a new team and help them get back to the top

Q2: During the pre-season, we saw you and Mich getting as much testing in as possible, was this a team idea to improve on where they made mistakes last season?

A2: Yes, We wanted to get as much mileage as possible to help us understand the car more.

Thank you Tigaby and well done.

Back to our race winner for one final question:

Q1:With a great start to the season, do you think there is a possibility of a 3rd Drivers' and Constructors' championship?

A1: We have to see. Tigaby is showing great pace as well at the moment and we look like the most complete team on paper. But you never know, there are many good teams. And as far as Drivers' Championship, I want to take it race by race. I'm not thinking about that yet. Cheers

Thank you very much for joining me here guys and congratulations on getting the top spots here a Melbourne, now i will leave you to get back to the champagne and celebrations.

Thank you to you all joining us here at Melbourne Podium Press Room and we will see you all at the Shanghai Podium Press Room Next week.