From your runs in the previous test days, have you noticed any significant difference in the handling of the car compared to the 1st season?
No, there’s no massive difference. The power is limited but you feel a bit more torque when you accelerate but it is very small difference from last year. We have a brand new rear suspension, gearbox and we’ve made some other small changes so stability is a bit better on the car. We shift less and we are only speaking about hundredths (of seconds gains) in every corner but it adds up. Right now, I think we are more than 1 second faster than last year but it’s not a brand new car.
Lucas (Di Grassi) suffered a suspension failure in Season 1 and in the Schaeffler Press Conference this morning, we heard that that is one of the areas that has been improved. Can you simulate or test out the suspension improvement before you go out on track?
Not really and it’s not just about reliability. It is also about performance. We have figures from last year and with these, we try to develop. Here (at Donington), it is hard to simulate since we don’t have a crazy bumpy track so we just have to do the best we can with the circumstances and hope we are well prepared for Beijing (first race of the Season 2).
Any new tracks on calendar you are looking forward to – I know we are losing Monaco in Season 2….
….. And Miami. I’ll miss Miami – I hated that fact. When I heard about it, I wanted to cry!