How has Formula E been for you, as you're now on your second race?
Good, I really enjoyed the race in Miami. It's a new technology so it's good to be involved in the beginning. It's good for the future because we are used to race cars with an engine and fuel, but I think that the future generation of kids will probably have electric cars. It's good to be a part of it, and actually I had a lot of fun in Miami during the race. It's been a long time since I've had that much fun in a race.
Formula E is still trying to gain its reputation off the ground. Di Grassi said, "Just because it's electric, doesn't mean that we're hippies." It's not like Prius racing. Did you have to be talked in to Formula E, or were you all in?
I was asked to come in, to be honest, but I was looking at it. Lucas (Di Grassi) is my team mate in Audi Endurance Racing (Audi Sport Team Joest), so he was talking about it. I have to say that I was impressed with the type of race that it was. The process is really good, racing in the cities.
IT's something new, but if you are open minded and if you think about the speed from the race cars that we have now, which for sure doesn't reach the speeds of the moment - but if you think about IndyCar in America, 25 years ago they were not as quick as now. For sure there is a lot of progress and a lot of things to improve. It's definitely something which I do believe will come up as one of the top categories in the future.
How does it feel for you to switch from long endurance race weekends, spread over multiple days, to a race that's just in one day?
It's definitely different. It's a Sprint race, but in terms of running style it's really similar because you have some lifting and coasting to use the amount of energy you need per lap. And this is something we have in endurance racing - we have to save fuel, save the kilowatts we are using, save the car to make sure the battery doesn't get too hot. In terms of driving style, it's very different.
It's way more intense because the racing is shorter and the days are really busy. At the end, it was not so difficult for me to get used to.
Does it seem more fun, because it is so short?
It's not more or less fun, but it's definitely completely different. I have to say that the pack of drivers are really close to endurance racing. Sometimes when you do the 24 Hours (Le Mans), there are guys that are 3 minutes ahead and you have to catch them. Here, it's a different type of racing, but driving style is quite similar. It's a mix of both of them.
Post Race comments
How do you feel after this race?
50/50, let's say. I'm really happy with the pace we were in the race, we ended up with the second fastest lap in the race. The quickest guy was Nico Prost but he did play that game because he was out of the points, so he played the game to get the fastest lap to get some points for the championship. So, except him, we were the quickest on track which is really positive.
Again, like Miami, we were quick, but the negative point is that we ended up having some trouble with the car during qualifying, which meant we had to fight for position. I do believe that our place was within the top 6. When you end up 17th or 18th in qualifying, it's always difficult to make it happen in the race, so it's a 50/50. I'm happy with the performance in the race, not happy with having the opportunity to get on podium and to miss it.
How about when the yellow flag was out - is that to your benefit?
That was the right call. We are on a city track so it's always difficult to manage a damaged car. Sometimes we'd like to race a little bit more for sure, but this is part of it, so I do agree with the decision so far. I do prefer if we don't have yellow flags because I'm doing pretty well on saving energy. The more laps we have to do at high speed, the better it is for myself.
I'm coasting, I'm saving the battery by keeping it at a low temperature. It seems that I'm quite OK, that's probably due to my experience with endurance. For sure, the more laps we do under normal race conditions, it's better for me because it's more coasting for everybody and it seems the right way that I'm doing it.
That leads to my last question: You have a lot of experience in endurance racing, and you're very new to Formula E. Do you feel like you are where you should be after this little time in Formula E?
I believe that we can fight at the front. My (WEC) teammate is Lucas, and he finished on the podium this weekend. I'm fighting every weekend with Sebastian Buemi who is doing really good also. I think if I start the race in the top 8, we will really be able to finish on the podium. So far, both races we've had problems in qualifying so we've ended up at the back of the queue. But when we resolve that, I'm sure the podium is available. In both races, here and Miami, we were in the top three quickest cars in the races, so that means if we start at the front with a good group, it will happen.
Braving the Dragon's Den