GP Europe preview with Tonio

F1 returns to European soil with the ubiquitously named European Grand Prix. The host city is Valencia, which has welcomed the Grand Prix for the past two years. The Valencia Urban track will be the third street circuit on the calendar so far this year after Monaco and Canada and, after picking up points finishes in both, the Tonio is looking forward to another similar performance in Valencia.

Canada saw you back to your best, with a Q3 performance and then ninth place in the race. Were you happy with your performance last weekend?
“As soon as I got out of the car after the first practice session I knew it was going to be a good weekend. We had decided to swap my chassis and we were confident we had found a solution to the problems we were having in Turkey and Barcelona. Then when we got to Montreal, everything we did seemed to improve the car and the team worked really hard to bring some updates between Friday and Saturday which really helped the balance. I knew that I felt much more comfortable and it showed in qualifying when I got my best-ever starting position in F1.”

“It was therefore a real shame that the first corner accident happened with Felipe Massa as I really feel I could have converted the qualifying into a really strong race result. Initially I was disappointed to have missed out on a chance but we still showed we had a really strong race pace, we could overtake and we didn’t give up – and that is good news for the rest of the season.”

What have you been doing to maintain that momentum since Canada?
“I feel that Canada was another start for me and for sure I will be pushing like crazy to keep that level of performance going. I will stick with the chassis I used in Canada from now on because it is working well in the corners. I have always believed that we had the potential to finish in the points and I have always believed in myself and the team has really supported me so it’s not like we’ve done anything new – we’ve just really focussed on getting the whole package together.”

“Now it’s all come together we’re really seeing the results so we all need to concentrate hard and build on the strengths we’ve developed over the past two weeks. I’ve been back in the factory again and preparing in the simulator and I feel confident about this next race. Looking forward, Valencia is another track that could suit us quite well.”

Can you do the same this time out in Valencia?
“We hope so. I have never driven in Valencia as it came onto the calendar in 2008 when I was the test and reserve driver at Force India, but I’ve been working hard in the simulator this week and I think we can have a good pace there. I like street circuits and I can go well on them as I showed in Monaco and Canada. I’ve also got a bit of a head start there as well as I’ve been at the last two events and have had access to all of the last years’ data, which helps with the preparation.”

“The team also did very well there with Adrian and Giancarlo Fisichella finishing in the top 12 and it was really where we started being closer to the points. I know it will be tough but we were mixing it with Mercedes and Renault in Canada and, with our new upgrades to the front and the rear of the car, I’m pretty hopeful we can repeat our performance of Montreal – hopefully without the first lap accident this time!”