Narain Karthikeyan Q&A

Narain Karthikeyan made his first appearance in Formula 1 way back in 2001 with a test at Silverstone with Jaguar and Jordan, after much success in the lower Formulae by becoming Champion in the Formula Ford UK Winter Series in 1994 and the Formula Asia Series in 1996.

The Indian driver then made an appearance with Minardi in 2003 at Vallelunga, before being signed by Jordan alongside Tiago Monteiro for the 2005 season. Throughout this season, which turned out to be Jordan’s last in the sport, Karthikeyan managed to score five points, largely thanks to the farcical outcome of the United States Grand Prix where only six cars started the race.

Narain Karthikeyan was the Williams F1 test driver between 2006 and 2007.

After loosing his seat once the 2005 season drew to a conclusion, Karthikeyan became the Williams test driver. This enabled the Indian driver to receive valuable track time in Formula 1 machinery, despite being unable to find a full time drive. Throughout the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Karthikeyan carried out numerous test events for the Grove-based outfit, before leaving F1 completely at the end of the 2007 season to pursue a career in A1GP and the Le Mans Series amongst others.

However, in 2011 Narain Karthikeyan made a return to Formula 1 with HRT alongside Vitantonio Liuzzi. However, after the German Grand Prix halfway through the season, he was forced to make way for rising star Daniel Ricciardo as Karthikeyan became the team’s Friday driver, returning only for his inaugural home race at the Indian Grand Prix.

Despite being replaced halfway through the 2011 season, Narain Karthikeyan returned to a full time drive for this season alongside F1 veteran Pedro de la Rosa. So far Narain Karthikeyan has not been replaced during a race, except for numerous practice sessions at the beginning of a weekend by Dani Clos and Ma Qing Hua. Last month I caught up with Narain, as we discussed the Yas Marina circuit and the season so far.

Q: First of all Narain, many thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to talk to me. It’s been a difficult season for HRT, however the whole team seems to have remained positive. How has the season so far been for you?

Narain Karthikeyan: At the beginning of the year things weren’t great but we have improved a lot. Now we are operating in a very good way and at a very high level and the effects of this will be seen in 2013.

Q: You out-qualified your vastly experienced team-mate, Pedro de la Rosa, at the Italian Grand Prix for the first time this season. How has the relationship been between you and Pedro this season?

NK: Pedro is a very good guy with a lot of experience and I have a lot of respect for what he has done. We get along very well but it is competition at the end of the day and we like to beat each other.

Q: You have yet to race around the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. What’s your opinion on the 21-turn circuit, and how much are you looking forward to competing around the track?

NK: It looks quite exciting and the facilities are great. I’ve never driven there so we’ll have to see how it goes. I’ll just have to do a lot of laps and try to learn my way around as soon as possible.

Narain Karthikeyan finished an impressive 15th at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Q: Throughout this season, you have finished as high as 15th at the Monaco Grand Prix. What’s been the highlight of your season so far?

NK: There have been many highlights but Monaco obviously has been the best result I’ve achieved all season. Now we have the pace and I’m improving every time and we hope to keep that momentum. We have nice races coming up in Asia which I’m looking forward to but, overall, I’m enjoying the season.

Q: Looking ahead to next season, and Pedro de la Rosa has already stated he hopes to remain a HRT driver for 2013. Do you hope to remain his team-mate for next season?

NK: Yes, that’s the plan. I would like to stay here as everything is set for a much better season in 2013 and I would like to stay here to reap those benefits.

Many thanks to the HRT F1 Team and Narain Karthikeyan for the communication and time taken to complete this interview.

 Picture(s) Copyright © HRT F1 Team & Williams F1 Team

Dani Clos Q&A

Dani Clos has been a regular face within the Formula 1 paddock this season, with the Spaniard having so far competed in six Friday practice sessions for HRT. An accomplished GP2 driver, Dani Clos has been widely rumored as a replacement for Narain Karthikeyan next season at HRT.

The Spaniard made his debut in GP2 back in 2009 for Spanish outfit Racing Engineering, and took his first victory in the Series one year later during the sprint race for the Turkish Grand Prix. Since then, his career in the sport has taken a massive leap from one of motor sport’s leading proving grounds to the top tier of the sport. Although the Spaniard has yet to officially start an F1 race, he has received valuable time in HRT’s F112 throughout the majority of the 2012 season.

Before the 2012 season, Dani Clos had partaken in numerous F1 tests for Williams, before being selected for the Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test for HRT last season. During his short time with the team, Clos impressed greatly and was elected as the team’s reserve driver for this season. The perks of this role became apparent at the Spanish Grand Prix in May, when he made F1 history by creating the first all-Spanish line-up in a Spanish F1 team during practice one alongside Pedro de la Rosa.

Since then, Dani Clos has taken to the track at both the British, German, Hungarian, Belgian and Korean Grands Prix during the opening practice session of the weekend. Last month I caught up with Dani Clos, as we discussed about the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the 2012 season so far.

Q: First of all Dani, many thanks for taking the time to talk to me. Unlike Pedro and Narain, you have much more experience around the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. What’s your opinion on the venue?

Dani Clos: The Yas Marina circuit is a really nice track and I’ve raced there three years in GP2 and I also did the Young Drivers Test there with HRT last year. I consider it to be a really nice track with a good first sector where drivers need to be aggressive. There’s a really nice last technical sector that’s completely different to the other two and it represents a challenge for the engineers and the drivers to find the right set-up.

Q: You have raced around the Yas Marina circuit in various categories, what is your most memorable moment whilst racing at the circuit?

Dani Clos raced for Racing Engineering throughout the majority of his GP2 career.

DC: I obviously have great memories from the Young Drivers Test there but my last race in GP2 in 2010 was at the Yas Marina circuit and I was one of the contenders to finish on the podium of the Championship. I had an accident at Spa that year which made me miss various races and Abu Dhabi was one of my last chances to prove myself. I had a really good qualifying, finishing in P2, but the marshals dropped me back to P12. I finished the race in P4 and I have good memories of that race.

Q: You have partaken in several Friday practice sessions for HRT so far this season. How much have these 90 minute sessions helped you and HRT over the season, and will we expect to see you in the car once again this season?

DC: I’m really proud and happy of what we have done up to now. It’s been a great feeling to have been in the car that often and I have to thank the team for that. I definitely expect to have more opportunities where I will try to do the best I can.

Dani Clos made his first appearance at an official F1 event at his home race at Barcelona earlier in the year.

Q: At the Spanish Grand Prix in May, you made history alongside Pedro de la Rosa by becoming the first all-Spanish line-up in a Spanish team. How special was this moment for you, as this was also your first ever appearance at an official race weekend?

DC: It was really special, not only because it was my first appearance at an official race weekend but because I was doing it alongside Pedro. Seeing all the people in the grandstands made me feel really proud of being Spanish. Everything went really well and we did a good job for the team.

Q: Rumors have been circulating within the paddock that you could receive a promotion within the team and team-mate Pedro de la Rosa next season. How true are these rumors, and could we expect to see you in a full-time drive next season?

DC: I would like these rumors to be true! But, at the moment, it is not. There are many things that need to happen for me to sit in an official seat. I’m working as hard as I can to achieve it.

Many thanks to the HRT F1 Team and Dani Clos for the communication and time taken to complete this interview.

Picture(s) Copyright © HRT F1 Team & Andrew Ferraro/GP2 Series Media Service

Simona de Silvestro Q&A

The 2012 season was tough for Simona de Silvestro and HVM Racing, as the Lotus-powered outfit struggled towards the rear of the pack on a weekly basis. However, the 24-year-old Swiss driver remained positive, finishing as high as 13th at Detroit and qualifying as high as 21st at both St. Petersburg and Alabama.

Simona de Silvestro made her IndyCar debut back in 2010 for HVM Racing, finishing consistently during his first six races in the sport. Qualifying as high as 7th at Edmonton and finishing as high as 8th at Mid-Ohio, de Silvestro enjoyed a promising debut year in IndyCar racing. In 2011, she suffered several setbacks with heavy incidents at the Indianapolis 500 and the Milwaukee Mile, the latter forcing her to miss the Iowa Corn Indy 250.

Regardless of these incidents, Simona de Silvestro bounced back this season, and enjoyed what she has regarded as her best oval races of her career. With the 2012 IZOD IndyCar season over, I caught up with Simona de Silvestro as we looked back on her 2012 season and her career so far in one of the fastest forms of motorsport.

Q: Firstly Simona, many thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. You endured a frustrating 2012 season, yet you remained positive throughout the year. How was the season from your perspective?

Simona de Silvestro: Like you said, it was a frustrating season, but there’s always something positive you can take out of any situation you’re in. When I look at, I was driving a race car and that’s what I wanted to do. For sure not getting the results is frustrating, but at the same time I could improve on my driving and some areas that needed work so I’m pretty happy about that.

Q: Your best finish of the season came at Detroit with 13th, one of the many street and road courses which were on the calendar this season. What form a circuit do you prefer, street/road courses or the traditional ovals?

Simona de Silvestro’s best finish came at Detroit, one of the many road and street courses throughout the year.

SdS: Growing up I’ve always been on road and street courses, so that’s what I like to do because that’s what I grew up doing. But I think this year ovals like Milwaukee and Iowa were actually a lot of fun. So I think when you start figuring it out and have a pretty good race car under you oval tracks can be pretty fun too.

Q: Your open-wheel career began with Formula Renault 2.0 Italy in 2005, before you progressed to Formula BMW Americas and the Atlantic Series. What was your initial ambition in motor sport, was it to become a Formula 1 driver or did you always have an ambition of joining the likes of Danica Patrick in America?

SdS: Formula 1 is still a dream and I think for many race car drivers it is a dream. For me it was never following Danica. It just happened that I came to the U.S. because we didn’t have the sponsorship to stay in Europe. We found a sponsor that was willing to support me here in the U.S. and I think it was the right move. You just don’t know where your career is taking you, so you have to take the best opportunities you get every time.

Q: In 2011, you suffered two major incidents during practice for the Indianapolis 500 and qualifying for the Milwaukee Mile. The second incident saw you miss the next race at Iowa. How (if at all) did these incidents affect your approach to oval racing?

Simona de Silvestro enjoyed some of her best oval racing in 2012.

SdS: Well, they definitely made it a little bit more difficult, because when you catch on fire and then you knock yourself out in a race car it’s usually not that fun. It took me a little bit to get over it, especially since it was in such a short time span. It was hard and I kind of took a step back, but then got back into it. I think in 2012 some of the oval races were some of the best oval races that I’ve done in my career, so I think that maybe it had to happen. Now I know what I learned from that and I try to implement that every time I go on an oval course.

Q: Several days ago on Twitter, you said you are now beginning training and preparation for the 2013 season. What do you think the 2013 season will hold for you and HVM Racing? Will the team still be powered by Lotus engines?

SdS: I really don’t know what’s going to happen in 2013 yet.

Many thanks to Trish Donovan and Simona de Silvestro for the communication and time taken to complete this interview.

Picture(s) Copyright © Getty Images

Davide Valsecchi Q&A

As the GP2 Series prepares for the final race weekend of the season, only two drivers can clinch the Drivers’ Championship once the action begins around the daunting Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore. This will be the first time the GP2 Series visits the circuit, and will see Davide Valsecchi race head-to-head with Luiz Razia.

Davide Valsecchi has remained a Championship contender since the opening race of the season, and utterly dominated the two race weekends in Bahrain at the beginning of the season by winning three consecutive races. The Italian driver is entering the season finale at Singapore 25 points clear of Luiz Razia, after an exceedingly important victory around his home circuit at Monza last time out.

With Davide Valsecchi the Championship favorite heading into the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, I caught up with the Italian driver to discuss his season so far, and to take a look ahead at the final race weekend of this entertaining GP2 season.

Q: First of all Davide, many thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to answer my questions. You started this season with unparalleled dominance, especially in Bahrain. What was the secret to your success at this early stage?

Davide Valsecchi dominated the first race weekend in Bahrain, with victory in the feature and sprint races.

Davide Valsecchi: I think that we were extremely competitive, because our car was really competitive. So I think we that we approached the season in a really good way, and I think this is what we needed to do to show that we were one of the contenders for the Championship. We are all very happy about it.

Q: Since then however, a certain Luiz Razia has challenged your authority over the Series. You only have a 25 lead over the Brazilian heading into the final round of the season, are you confident you can clinch the Championship?

DV: Yes, I am really confident because we ended the last weekend [in Italy] with a victory, whereas Luiz Razia ended the race in 16th place. So for sure we are more confident than them [Arden International] and we are more confident because we are leading the team Championship and all the team is with me at the moment. We’ve done our best to deserve where we are at the moment in the Championship, and at the moment we are approaching the last weekend of the season in a good way. The team is working a lot to be perfect for the weekend, and we are doing a lot of simulator work in preparation to be one of the best when the weekend begins.

Q: At the opening race weekend in Malaysia, you were involved in a big incident with the iSport International of Marcus Ericsson in which you barrel-rolled through the gravel. What were your initial thoughts once the car had come to a standstill, was it relief that you were uninjured or was it disappointment at scoring no valuable points. 

Davide Valsecchi made contact with Marcus Ericsson, and barrel-rolled dangerously through the gravel at Malaysia.

DV: We had the flip in the air during the second race in Malaysia, but we had the pole and the 2nd place in the feature race so it was a very good weekend for us. After the race, Marcus Ericsson did get a penalty for the incident so it wasn’t our fault, and our aim was to get many points during the race. Luckily my car wasn’t heavily damaged, and the team showed in Bahrain that they brought the car back with good performance. We just lost some points, it wasn’t our fault and we were a bit disappointed for that but we scored really well in the next weekend.

Q: The season finale this year is scheduled to take place at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore. How much are you looking forward to racing there?

DV: It’s really good that we are going to Singapore, it will be my first time and GP2’s first time at the circuit. I think it will be a great show. It will be the first time we have gone so far for a race, so we will try to do our best. What we know is that it is a street circuit and a very long circuit, so it looks really complicated to be fast in performance there. In Monte-Carlo we were competitive, I hope to be able to fight in the top five along with Calado, Gutierrez, van der Garde, Razia all the top drivers and we will try to do our best, myself and Felipe Nasr. I hope to maintain my lead in the Championship.

Q: You won the Italian Grand Prix sprint race last time out, whereas Championship rival Luiz Razia failed to score any points. What was it like to take such an important victory on home soil?

DV: It was really wonderful, it was important for us and it was a really important weekend because beforehand we were equal on points, myself and Luiz Razia. Me and DAMS had a great chance to beat them, and the result after this really important weekend was that we gained on them 25 points. We finished the weekend with a really great victory, as well as fastest lap two laps to the end. So it shows that at the moment we really deserve the lead in the Championship. But, it’s not finished yet and it was really important for us to gain further confidence and to show that we are the team and driver to beat, but we still have one fight to do. We will try to do our best, because it would be a shame if we lost the Championship after starting the final race weekend 25 points in the lead. And all the others are out of contention, the Lotus team [Calado and Gutierrez] are already out of the Championship fight. We only have to beat one man [Luiz Razia], and we have an advantage to him. But first of all we want to score points and have a good result there because every time you race you want to finish in the top five and on the podium. Our aim will be this result.

Many thanks to DAMS and Davide Valsecchi for the communication and time taken to complete this interview.

Picture(s) Copyright © Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service

Pippa Mann Q&A

Pippa Mann made history last season, when she became the first British female to partake in the legendary Indianapolis 500. Racing alongside legendary figures such as Paul Tracy and Dario Franchitti, she made her presence known by qualifying 31st and finishing 20th.

Although the 2011 Indianapolis 500 will go down in history as the race where rookie JR Hildebrand crashed on the final corner of the final lap, thus gifting the lead to the late Dan Wheldon, it was also the race where a certain Pippa Mann made her debut. Since then, however, bad luck and a string of injuries have plagued her career in IndyCar.

After not finding a drive for the 2012 season, Pippa Mann talks about her season so far off-track and of her continuing quest of returning to one of the fastest sports in the world, the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Q: First of all Pippa, many thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Although you unfortunately haven’t been racing in IndyCar this season, you’ve certainly been kept busy off-track. What’s your view on what has so far been an enthralling 2012 season?

Pippa Mann: While I haven’t been in a car this year, I have worked fairly hard to keep myself around at the race tracks, so I think I have a fairly good fan’s eye view of the series right now – just with a little more insider info, and a few more vested interests than your average race fan! I think overall racing with the new car has been great. It’s been entertaining for the fans, and interesting for the drivers. I think the new defending rules for the series this year have actually opened things up more than I thought they would, and I think overall the level of competition right now in the IZOD IndyCar Series is extremely high. The fan in me finds the races enthralling to watch this year, but the driver in me finds it so frustrating that I am having to watch such a great year rather than take part! I’ll be much happier when I get to see races from my preferred point of view again – the cockpit…!

Q: Throughout your career, you have raced on a number of iconic circuits such as Monaco, Spa-Francorchamps, Silverstone and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. What’s your favorite circuit you have raced on in your career and why?

PM: In Europe I always loved the circuits that either had really smooth, fast-flowing sections, or allowed for great passing – preferably both! My favorite track in the UK is actually Donington, and I have a lot of fond memories from there. Being that smooth is fast, and you can generally find a way around someone there. I loved Estoril in Portugal for it’s fabulous fast sweeping last corner, and the opportunities that would give me to make a big move on the can in front at the end of the long straight into turn one, and I love the sweeping fast sections of Monza, again the fast final corner onto the long straight there also providing great passing opportunities. I think that’s why I like the ovals so much. It’s about being fast and smooth, and setting people up to pass them just right all the time without any of the slow frustrating stuff! My favorite circuit of all time? From the first time I drove on it, to my historic pole there in 2010, to becoming the first British woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 in 2011, hands down the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. She’s a very special venue, and I have never raced anywhere like that before! There’s a saying we have in America – you don’t choose to win at Indy. She decides, and she chooses you!

Q: Over the years, female drivers in IndyCar have greatly outweighed female drivers in other major categories such as Formula 1. Why do you think female drivers have enjoyed more success in IndyCar in comparison to F1?

Pippa Mann has started three IndyCar races so far in her career.

PM: To give you the simple answer, quite simply there seem to be better opportunities for female drivers in America, both in terms of raising the funding to compete, and being awarded an equal opportunity to compete. The emphasis out here is on proving you can drive a race car. As with male drivers, some female drivers are more marketable for a host of reasons, and some less so, however out here it keeps coming back to performance in the car. If you drive well on a regular basis, you will get respect. Your results will influence people’s opinions of how well you can drive. This, in my opinion, is how it should be.

Q: Your first true taste of American motor sport came in the Firestone Indy Lights series. Unfortunately, the Firestone Indy Lights series isn’t widely broadcast in the UK, so could you please describe how the Firestone Indy Lights series differs to that of the IZOD IndyCar Series for my readers who might not have heard of the Firestone Indy Lights series before.

PM: The Indy Lights cars have a 450hp engine, and are basically a smaller more compact version of an IndyCar. However with IndyCars being so much larger than the shrink wrapped Formula One cars we see these days, the Indy Lights cars in themselves are not small machines. The races are 100 miles long, but they are sprint races with no pit stops for tyres or fuel. The reason for this is two-fold. In Europe, F1 and the various different feeder series all use tyre warmers for their pit stops, and so put on fresh hot rubber. In IndyCar and Lights, tyre warmers are banned. The risk of a four cold tyre stop in a series where drivers are still learning is relatively high. Also as IndyLights have never done pit stops, the teams would need to spend a lot of money gearing up, and this creates a large expense which always seems to trickle down the budgets. Indy Lights is a lot more affordable than trying to race GP2 or World Series by Renault back in Europe. The races generally last around an hour, but that time frame can be shorter or longer depending on how much time is spent under yellow, and the type of track. A green race on a mile and a half oval probably only takes around 45 minutes, but a race at Long Beach can easily take an hour and ten minutes.

The Indy Lights cars look more similar to the previous Dallara IndyCar than the DW12, as they are more of that generation of chassis. A new chassis is being introduced for that series too in the future. Other than that, the style of racing tends to be fairly similar between the two classes. As with IndyCar, in Indy Lights you have tools you can use in the car as a driver to adjust the handling of the car over the course of a stint, which you can’t in European single-seater series. The tools include rear and front anti-roll bar adjustments, and a weight jacker for the ovals. Also much like IndyCar, while there are some teams who are undoubtedly the ‘top’ teams, if you’re out there, week in week out, doing a good job with a smaller team, you can bring home results. This is one of the best things about competing in America – on a good day, with a good driver, even the small teams can run right up front.

Q: Your first victory in Firestone Indy Lights came at the Kentucky Speedway. What was it like when you first raced on an oval, after initially starting your career in Europe on road and street circuits?

Pippa Mann’s maiden Firestone Indy Lights victory at Kentucky in 2010.

PM: I will never ever forget my first time on an oval. It started when we first drove into the circuit and I saw how high the banks were at Homestead Miami Speedway. I said a variety of rude four letter words. I had no idea it would be THAT banked. It does not make the impact on you on TV that it does the first time you see it in real life! Then I got into the car, which was set up to turn left – as all oval cars are. This means that compared to a European car, or a road/street course car, they look all out of alignment before you even get in – like you slapped the wall really hard somewhere and bent your suspension leaving the wheels at different angles. They literally look like they’re leaning over. Then you first drive the thing, and it handles like a European car after you’ve slapped the wall and bent suspension too! My first thoughts were along the lines of “NO WAY!” and “YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME”. This was quickly followed by “I’M MEANT TO DRIVE THIS?!”

Q: You tried ever so hard to return to the Indianapolis 500 this season. Are you confident on returning to the IZOD IndyCar series in the near future?

PM: Not being able to put together the funding in time to get into one of the first 33 cars, and then there not being engines available when I did scrape the money together for this years Indy 500 was one of the most difficult and gut wrenching experiences I have had to go through. Being forced to watch a race from the stands, and not having the chance to get in a car and try and qualify after fighting so hard to make it in with a small team the previous year, literally at times made me feel unwell. I can’t describe to you the emotional roller-coaster I was on, nor having to deal with the reality of that battle ending without me getting in a car. Knowing there were so few entries this year made it even harder.

As to the future, I have been working on 2013 since May. I wanted to race again at the end of this season, and I have been very public about saying that, but the priority has always been the focus on 2013. I do not want to be in this position in 2013. I want to be back in a car on a full-time basis, because as a part time driver with inexperience it’s always a huge uphill battle even in the best of circumstances. I want to find a way to give myself a real opportunity to get out there and get the job done. Right now there’s a lot of work going into trying to make that happen. Watch this space…

Many thanks to Hannah Griffiths and Pippa Mann for the communication and time taken to complete this interview.

Picture(s) Copyright © LAT Photographic & Getty Images

Luiz Razia Q&A

With just over half of the 2012 GP2 Series season already gone, Luiz Razia is in a commanding position atop the Drivers’ Championship. The 23-year-old Brazilian driver currently has 165 points, 6 more than his nearest rival of Davide Valsecchi. With four wins already to his name this season, Razia is definitely edging his way closer to Formula 1.

The Brazilian driver has already tasted Formula 1 machinery in his career, after driving for the then Team Lotus (now Caterham) throughout Friday practice sessions on two occasions last season. Luiz Razia has also taken part in the last two years of Young Driver Test at Abu Dhabi, for both Virgin Racing (now Marussia) and Team Lotus (now Caterham).

Prior to the European Grand Prix several weeks back, Luiz Razia looked ahead to his Championship chances and aims of one day becoming Brazil’s latest Formula 1 sensation.

Q: First of all Luiz, many thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. It’s so far been a positive start to the season with two victories, how has it been for you? What’s been your highlight of the season so far?

Luiz Razia: The workflow so far, our team is doing a great job in keeping very focused every time in every single race and day at the factory. I’m working very hard also on my physical and mental condition to keep everything open for the remaining season.

Q: After Davide Valsecchi’s very competitive start to the season, do you feel you can catch him and take the Championship? You’re only 31 points behind him.

LR: Yes I think I can do [that].

Q: Apart from Davide Valsecchi, who else do you see as a potential threat to your Championship chances?

LR: All the top 6 are really fighting for the Championship.

Q: You tested for Virgin Racing and Team Lotus in Formula 1 throughout 2010 and 2011 respectively. Has driving an F1 car helped you in your GP2 career? If so how?

LR: Yes, and no, it is very different and most of the time we need to adapt to the car we are driving. I did learn a lot and I know F1 is much harder work than GP2 and I think that gave me a good perspective to do in GP2 as well.

Q: Having taken part in two Young Driver Tests throughout the last two years, will you be taking part in the Young Driver Test again this year? And if so, who with?

LR: I hope so, I’ll push to be in a good team this time so I can show some real pace.

Q: With several Brazilian drivers currently competing in America’s IndyCar Series, including Helio Castroneves and Rubens Barrichello, would you ever consider racing in America?

LR: Well, let me get in F1 first and achieve my dream than I’ll think about other stuff.

Many thanks to Arden International and Luiz Razia for the communication and time taken to complete this interview.

Picture Copyright © Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service