How was the start of the school year for you?
It went pretty well! We had a lot of things to test and understand. Four-wheel drive, new tires too, quite a few nice new tools at our disposal. So we had to perfect them before arriving in São Paulo and overall, I’m quite happy with the work done by the whole team.
Could this change a lot of things about the races and their dynamics?
I think it will bring a little spice to the races, some new things in any case. I don’t really know when we will have the Pit Boost (the rapid recharging system during the events. Editor’s note), it will be more up to the organizers that this will be decided. Having four-wheel drive in Attack Mode will change a lot of things. We will have more possibilities of overtaking with this mode than last year. There will be quite a few little new features which I think will make the races a little more fun!
What are your feelings about the new tires brought by Hankook?
They provide a little more grip, but they behave a little more like “normal” racing tires. There is a real peak in performance on the new tires, so our tire usage over the weekend will change drastically compared to previous years. There is also a clear deterioration in the race, so we will have to look closely at everything we can do to avoid it as much as possible. These are new elements which bring a lot of work of understanding and new things.
After these four days, can you detect a hierarchy between the different teams?
It’s very difficult to say. I think we won’t be too bad, but these practice sessions don’t tell us much about the hierarchy of the teams. We’ll have to wait for the first races, for now it’s impossible to say!
After ten years in the championship, having new features and developments allows you to keep a fresh perspective from a driving point of view?
The questioning is permanent, year after year, even without new ideas! Others get better, understand more things, so it’s always a question of work. It’s definitely nice to always have new things to work on. It would be a bit boring if we had the same cars year after year, we would quickly go around them. It’s always good when new things come along to change things.
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Comments collected by Michaël Duforest.
