GP Spain preview with Tonio

The three-week break since China and the return to Europe after four flyaway races has given the Force India F1 Team chance to embark on their most concerted development push since the winter, with a wide array of upgrades set to be introduced for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix. After two consecutive DNF, Tonio is looking forward to the next race.

Q. How would you review the Chinese Grand Prix weekend now?
TL: “It was frustrating, the worst weekend we have had since the beginning of the season. But you always hope that the bad luck comes in one go and then it doesn’t come again. We had a really difficult Friday as in the afternoon we didn’t get as much information as we would have liked and we didn’t have a clear picture. On Saturday we had a stronger FP3 but in qualifying we suffered again with traffic, which was frustrating as we believed we had a pace that was good enough to get close to Q3.”

“Then in Sunday’s race, starting from 18th position was always going to be difficult. We had to start really aggressively to try and get some points but conditions were very difficult and since Friday we had had a problem with heating the brakes. During the formation lap I couldn’t get much heat into them, then on the damp track I made a mistake in corner six. When I touched the brakes it just locked the rear and basically we lost the car. That was the end of it, which was a real shame as we had a really good start, overtaking about three cars and everything was going to plan, but I underestimated that the brakes were not exactly at temperature. So it was the end of a really difficult weekend, but we haven’t lost faith in our potential: we know from the first rounds we have a good pace.”

Q. What are your thoughts on the Spanish Grand Prix?
TL: “Every race has its own story and in China everything went wrong, but we always thought we could be very strong for the Barcelona race. In the final winter test we had a good pace, I like the track and the car seems to fit the track characteristics well now. For me personally, I have turned the page after China and am really looking forward to the European season where I want to get back into the points at each round.”

Q. Will the upgrades the team has for Spain help in this respect?
TL: “Yes of course. Sustaining this development rate is not just important, it’s crucial. All the other teams are bringing their own updates so we need to keep pushing to maintain our position. Our aero department is doing a great job as at every race we have more and more developments, which keeps our heads high and makes us positive. Each step is a good update that helps to rebalance our car in the few weaker areas we have. I think we are in good shape now and we need to get the most out of it and continue scoring points.”