Questions from the floor

Q: (Tom Clarkson – Tom Clarkson & Associates) Mark, how does this win compare to the Nürburgring? 

MW: I think the first one was pretty nice, there’s no question about it. It’s nice to get another one, but probably Nürburgring was a little bit better, because it was a big relief more than anything. This one was more of a controlled fashion, I suppose, and although not too dissimilar to the Nürburgring, but I suppose I could only lose this one. I put myself in a very, very good position after yesterday in the first stint to win the race and then I had about 45 laps of getting it home. I went a little bit on the kerbs in a few places here and there and just had to give myself a bit of an uppercut and say ‘mate, just bring it together’ and remind myself that I’m not in tenth, I’m in the lead, so you just control it. It was a pretty good day. Also I just want to add to all the press guys who haven’t come in here but it was a good weekend for a good friend of mine, Jason Crump who won the World Speedway Championship. He’s very, very injured and I’m very happy for him that he’s won the World title and Casey (Stoner) won the motorbikes, so it was a good day for us guys.

Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Lewis, it’s the first time in 40 years that Britain has had back-to-back World Champions. I wonder if you could offer your thoughts on what this means over the past two years for British motor sport. 

LH: I don’t think I have a clue if I’m honest. I think it’s fantastic for our country to have – I think in the last couple of years – such great athletes coming through. It’s been a good couple of years for us, with the Olympics and some seriously good talent coming through. It’s been great for the sport, great for all the fans. I’m sure the fans back home are extremely happy to have two World Champions two years in a row. I can only assume that they are very, very proud, that’s all I can say.

Q: (Ian Parkes – The Press Association) Lewis, would it be fair to suggest to Jenson that he’s only got it on loan for a year? 

LH: I don’t know. That’s the plan, for sure. I’m not going to take anything away from his championship. He did an incredible job this year. He kept up the pressure, the pressure was extremely immense for him these last few races and I saw him today and whilst he was trying to keep a cool exterior, I know exactly what he’s going through. I just said to him ‘you don’t have to do it in this race but just keep your cool’ and clearly he did, so I’m very, very happy for him and his family. But I definitely plan on taking it back from him at some stage.