Are there any specific things you focus on within the team as where you look for an advantage?
“First of all there’s my own frame of mind to reduce the distraction and all these things. Then it’s getting my car right and getting it perfect.”
Is that something you’ve done better this year?
“Possibly a little bit better, yeah. I can’t put the finger on it but with experience if anything I’ll be better at those things, yeah.”
Stability helps within this team?
“Yeah that’s a big thing. That’s also a huge reason for our success, the stability that we have. The same people all the time, really everyone pulling in one direction, it’s good.”
At the end of last year going into this year you seemed to have built up that stability around you and seemed very at home within the team. Has that always been the case at Mercedes?
“I definitely completely feel at home now. It takes a little bit of a while initially, of course, but I’ve been here, this is my seventh, seventh season. Seventh season! So I’ve had plenty of time to integrate.”
But do you feel you really lead this team now? Especially this year?
“We’re two leaders. We both lead the team together. We help lead the team together, both of us.”
Could that become a bigger deal next year? If regulations bring Red Bull closer, it’s going to be important you two keep doing that, or is the rivalry you have going to make that harder to do?
“It’s important to support the team. To be there, present, work with everybody, get things going, really help as much as I can. That’s always the case and it will be the same next year.”
I know you’re not looking at this championship picture but do you think long-term? There’s a feeling that if Red Bull get it right next year, this could be the last year of such Mercedes domination and therefore your best chance of a title.
“I’ve heard that for the last three years so let’s forget about that one!”
But everyone was expecting Mercedes’ domination to roll on before now…
“Yeah but I’ve heard this in 2014 already, so forget about that question. We will be strong in years to come. Very, very strong.”
Is there potential for you to build up multiple titles, then?
“Oh, come on, that’s not the moment to dig into any such thoughts.”
You never think like that?
“No, definitely not. Let’s try and win Mexico!”
Well to ask it differently, is Mercedes going to be your home for the rest of your F1 career?
“At the moment I’m feeling great here and I look forward to the years to come, yeah. This is my racing family, you know?”
You’ve seen life at another F1 team in Williams, a future move away doesn’t appeal?
“Both have positives. It was a little different but both had great times.”
On Thursday you said you’re not here to make everyone happy…
“If you do that, that’s the beginning of the end if you start to do that, you’re never going to manage.”
…did you learn that in F1? Did you come into the sport with that mindset or learn it with experience here?
“I’m someone who thinks about these things and all those human aspects, you know? That’s also something I’ve thought about and understand and I accept that situation. Being the forefront it is always going to be 50/50, people love you or people don’t love you, that’s just the way it is.”
It tends to be that fans take sides between yourself and Lewis, how is your relationship at the moment compared to this time last year?
“It’s always the same, you know? It just fluctuates with its ups and downs, it depends on the moment. That’s it, generally the respect is always there.”
Obviously there were flashpoints this year where it must have been worse, but you've come back from those. Is it almost…
“You think there were some difficult moments?!”
Potentially, one or two! But those came at races you’d produced something good - the move around Lewis at Turn 1, your fightback in Austria - is it almost a frustration that those are overlooked?
“No, it’s definitely not a frustration because those are long gone. It would not be healthy to dwell on the frustration of six months ago.”
Then you might not answer this either, but a year ago…
“That’s going back very far again, no?”
I’m calling up your quotes!
“What did I say?”
You said losing the world title is difficult but you’d be over it very quickly because you’ve got family at home to spend time with and move on quickly. Then in pre-season you said that had been the case. Would it be the same if you were to win the title this year? Would you quickly move on or do you hope it would change you in a positive way?
“I have no idea! And I don’t want to think about it!”
I wish we’d done this straight after you winning a title!
“I know that victories and losses have an emotional impact which doesn’t go away overnight. They hang on for a couple of days.”
It never influences you beyond that?
“It never influences my wellbeing in my personal life, no. That’s something that I’ve really learned and I know that. That’s important, because it shouldn’t. What you do driving round on a circuit shouldn’t influence your happiness as a person or your wellbeing as a person. The long-term one. The short-term one takes a big dent, of course!”
You said on Thursday it’s a childhood dream to win the title, but are you keeping your feet planted because up to now nothing has overly changed your world in F1?
“Again, that’s too much thinking. You’re overthinking it! The mindset is simple.”
You keep that with good people around you?
“Great people. Georg [Nolte - press officer] is here to support me, and Paul [Ripke - photographer], and Dan the man [Schloesser - physio]. Continuity in my life is generally everywhere to be seen. Family, the team that is supporting me at the track. My engineer, even - Tony Ross - I’ve done all my F1 except for one year with him. That’s pretty crazy as well. You should check if that’s ever been done before, ten years with the same engineer. I don’t think that’s ever been done before.”
And it could all culminate in the title…
“Who knows?”
