Exclusive interview with Vitantonio Liuzzi
Last week’s Hispania Racing press release at the Circuit de Catalunya confirmed that Vitantonio Liuzzi had completed the F1 grid for 2011. After being left on the sidelines by Force India, the 29-year-old Italian now looks towards his quest of moving the sport’s Spanish team forwards. He liaises with GPUpdate.net.
Tonio, congratulations on staying in Formula 1 – how does that feel?
“I’m really excited. It’s a new challenge, a new adventure for 2011 and I’m really looking forward to being in Australia.”
Do you feel comfortable and fully settled into this team yet?
“Yes. We’ve only done one test together but we had a good feeling with each other straight away; they appreciate my experience and speed and I’ve learned how many good people there are in the team and how professional they are.”
The F111 won’t run until first free practice in Melbourne. How confident are you that it will be able to keep moving forward throughout the season?
“Yeah, I’m pretty confident. I think we have a good strategy for the future; it won’t be easy, because time is passing by and we’re really late with the new car, but it’s a long-term project – it’s not about this year, it’s about the future. I think we have all good things to ensure strong results in the future.”
The car certainly looks great, but what are your initial feelings on its potential performances?
“The base car looks like a big step forwards from last year, it looks good. Now we need to work on the speed and the reliability; I think I mentioned many times last year that the team was really reliable, so let’s see what happens this year.”
How are you getting on with Narain Karthikeyan?
“I’ve known him for several years and think that he’s a good and fast driver. Even though he’s not been in Formula 1 for a long time, I think he will be a driver who could push me to the limit.”
When did you actually sign the deal to join Hispania?
“On Tuesday 8 March.”
You have been part of Force India for last three seasons, but they’ve chosen to run Paul di Resta alongside Adrian Sutil this year; you must have been disappointed with that final decision…
“I would say that everybody does what they want with their toys, you know? It’s more a case of single owners running a business. I don’t mind about the choice they made but would have just preferred for it to happen earlier, rather than January with everything being finished late…”
…to give yourself more time for preparations…
“…to give me more time and not leave me in that situation, but it’s okay. I have a good relationship with Mr. Mallya (Team Principal and CEO), he has been good to me in the past, so now we just face a new era and new challenge and I’m looking forward to this year.”
We waited for many weeks for Force India’s 2011 driver decision. How did they finally break the news to you?
“Letters and things like that, as I think always happens with everybody. But now it’s time to talk less about Force India and more about the future.”
You are rated very highly by a number of people – for instance, in karting you never seem to have a problem in beating fellow Formula 1 competitors! But how confident are you that, with Hispania now looking up to you as their most experienced driver, you can build and develop this team around you?
“Fortunately I seem to have a lot of respect in the paddock, a lot of people have good faith in me, so at the moment I think the team will support Narain and I 100 percent, but for sure they want to achieve results in the future and they will push hard.”
“There are some good people, like (Technical Director) Geoff Willis and others, who are really experienced and have also come from good teams, so they know what they’re doing. It’s just a matter of time and effort to make a team better, but I’m looking forward to this new challenge.”
Will you be changing your general approach in order to help the entire team move forward, as well as yourself?
“Everything will be different. You have to approach it differently and think about things differently. At the moment our target is to beat Lotus and Virgin, so it won’t be an easy challenge but I think my approach will be to give the team maximum support and push everybody to 110 percent all the time, for both development and performing well in the races.”
Are any significant upgrades planned for the car by any specific point in the season?
“We will see for the season. At the moment we have the biggest upgrade and that’s the car, so that’s a good start! For future developments we don’t yet know, but the team is pushing and it’s growing in a lot of areas where it’s good to make the car faster, so I think we can grow and push harder for this season.”
Previously you have been with Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Force India – larger teams than HRT. Does this therefore feel like a very small team with a very different atmosphere?
“I feel like I’m in a family, I have to say. I feel good, the people are really nice and they’re both motivated and committed, so in a way I don’t see it as a big deal. In many cases, the smaller you are the better you can work, so in a way it’s just a matter of work mentality.”
“Sometimes, if you have 1,000 people involved in a team, you might need to put something past ten people just to pass some information on, whereas here it’s all direct – I can go to Geoff or any other engineer and just talk – so in a way this is a really good environment. Obviously at the moment we’re not fighting for wins but we are fighting to grow and bring the car home in the points soon. I feel good and positive about the season here.”
Certain people believe that you have only signed with Hispania to keep your own name in Formula 1. How would you respond to that?
“You know, you cannot make everybody happy all the time. Somebody will think you’re the greatest, some think you’re crap and some say different words! You can’t always make everybody happy. All I can say is that my target is to grow.”
“This is a young team, it’s a new team and these steps in my career don’t scare me. I’ve done it before with other teams; I started with Red Bull when it was in its first year, with Toro Rosso in the first year, Force India the first year, so I think a lot of the time the people who talk a lot just don’t see the reality of what’s happening in Formula 1.”
“It’s easy to talk from the outside, but I’m fully committed to this new challenge and I’m sure that we can grow.”
So, no regrets if Force India start scoring podiums this year?
“Every team has its own life. For sure, if they score points this year it will also have come from my support in the past. Unfortunately, with Formula 1 at the moment the car is very important in achieving a strong result.”
“Every year it’s a challenge for every team but I’m just positive about myself because, with everywhere I’ve been, the team has grown and achieved good results, so I want to do the same with Hispania – I will help as much as I can with my experience and skills.”
Obviously we’re not expecting giant-killing performances from Hispania and certainly not at the start of the season, as the car is yet to run, but what do you believe is the most you can achieve this year?
“We can’t dream about a big result, of course. We just have to keep our feet on the ground and hope that the new car reacts as it looked in the data simulations we have at home (the team’s Murcia base) and that it will be as reliable as we expect, as it was last year.”
“Remember, last year they put the car together on the Friday in Bahrain and it was the most reliable car of the three new teams, so I really don’t see why we shouldn’t do the same this year. The aim is to finish races and to finish as far up as possible.”
“It’s difficult to say whether we’ll be able to score any points, but for sure we’ll have to gamble for the best possible situation – like in Korea and Montreal last year, those kinds of races – to achieve the best possible result.”