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The British Grand Prix was a
frustrating race because the FW29 was a quick car, yet I was unable to
unleash its potential because I was always stuck in traffic. In the end,
12th place was the best I could manage.
 Had
I not had a technical problem in qualifying, which cost me about 20kph down
the straights, I am sure I could have fought for points because the car was
well-suited to Silverstone's fast sweeps. In Saturday morning practice I was
fifth quickest and set myself the goal of qualifying in the top six. As it
was, I qualified 17th, which was the first time this year that I failed to
make it into Q2.
The race was always going to be tough from 17th on the grid, and so it
turned out to be. I drove very aggressively early on to move up to 12th
place by lap three, but I got stuck behind David Coulthard and, in the end,
12th was the best I could manage. Still, it was great to be at Silverstone
because it's an amazing track. The first sector is really fast and
challenging, and particularly the first corner. I took it in seventh gear at
275kph (171mph), which was pretty awesome. It was also fun to experience the
British crowd at its noisiest because there were a lot of people at the
track to support Lewis [Hamilton]. The drivers' parade was spectacular and
it created a great atmosphere in which to go racing. It was quite similar to
Barcelona in that way.
I stayed in my motorhome at the BRDC campsite. There was a drivers' area on
the inside of the Abbey Chicane and I was parked alongside Rubens
Barrichello. The weather improved throughout the weekend and on Saturday
evening most of the drivers had barbecues, which was fun.
Away from racing, I took an interest in the tennis from Wimbledon over the
weekend. It's a great tournament and I couldn't believe it when Roger
Federer and Rafael Nadal got through to the men's final. Those two are
amazing players and it's great for tennis that they keep meeting in the
finals. But it came as no surprise that Federer emulated Bjorn Borg in
winning five straight titles. He is awesome on grass.
There was also the start of the Tour de France in London, but I'm not such a
fan of cycling because of all the doping scandals you hear about. Just
talking about it reminds me of the dope test I had to do at Magny-Cours last
weekend: I had to pee into a bucket with a guy watching me – and I mean
really watching me! It's very difficult to produce the goods when you're
being watched by a man.
Looking ahead, we have a test session at Spa Francorchamps this week, where
we have some new parts to try on the FW29. Then it's off to the Nurburgring
for the next race. It's a track that I know well from the junior formulas
and I think our car will be really strong there. I can't wait.
Until next time. |
