GP Italy: FIA Thursday press conference
Q: Tonio, you have a new team-mate; have things changed much within the team?
Tonio Liuzzi: “For sure, the atmosphere is a bit different in the team. Before, it was quite heavy, now it’s changed a bit, it is a bit of a fresh air. Unfortunately for Scott, but Sebastian, the last two races, he was really welcomed by the team and there was a different air inside. He is young, he has to gain experience, he has to learn with the team and I think there was a bit of a difference inside and I think everybody saw this from the outside.”
Q: And in comparison, from a competition point of view?
VL: “I don’t think I have to say that everybody knows that obviously Scott had two years’ experience. He was often giving me a hard and time, and Sebastian has to do kilometres for sure. He’s really young and it was a bit easier to score points with the BMW and he’s realised that. For sure, yes, he has a lot to do for next year.”
Q: What about yourself for next year, what are you hoping for?
VL: “I’m working on next year, for sure. My aim is to stay in F1 because that’s my target since I started racing and I want to show what I can do when I am in a competitive team, because unfortunately this year we had a lot of problems. But nothing is fixed. I think at the moment we are a bit on stand-by for the driver market and we still have to wait two or three weeks to know what’s going on, but I’m working hard on it and I hope I get a chance.”
Q: And would you be happy to be a test driver?
VL: “No, at the moment I’m focused just on (race) driving, because I think in the last two years we didn’t have many chances to show what we can do because we were always in difficult conditions so I hope that for next year, if it happens, that I can stay in Formula One, if possible in a stronger situation, so I’m pushing hard to be a driver, one of the 22.”
Q: (Dan Knutson – National Speed Sport News) I’d like to ask the three Italian drivers: it is many years since Ferrari had an Italian driver – why do you think the team does not like Italian drivers?
VL: “I’m still only two years in Formula One and you don’t know what will happen, so… you never know. Maybe, they prefer Finland for selling cars. I have no idea..!”