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I’ve had better races than that
at San Marino that’s for sure. I was already in a bit of trouble having to
start 13th on the grid. In actual fact, qualifying didn’t go too badly and
in terms of pace I think it went well because I wasn’t far from where Mark
[Webber] was.
 Unfortunately
I didn’t really get a lap the way I would have wanted. Everybody was so
close together and for this race I came out at the wrong end. Another time,
when everybody is really close together, you can come out on top, but that’s
the way it goes.
I had hoped to do better in qualifying, but at the end of the day you can
only compare yourself to your team-mate and compared to Mark I think it was
acceptable because I was two tenths off and he was in tenth place on the
grid so I wasn’t far away.
Being so far back on the grid really messed up the start of the race for me
because I was just stuck in traffic and you just can’t pass at Imola. Also I
didn’t feel completely comfortable with the car or my race set-up, which was
unfortunate.
Even though it is so difficult to pass, I had a go at [Giancarlo] Fisichella
at the re-start after the pace car came out near the beginning. I managed to
get alongside him but it didn’t work out.
On the whole, as a team, I think we went as well as we expected. I think
performance at San Marino is very track-specific, so I’m feeling positive
and I’m sure that we will be stronger again at the Nürburgring for the next
race. Bridgestone as a whole has made a strong step forward, but we weren’t
able to take full advantage of that which, in the end, I put down to the
track.
The schedule is pretty hectic over the next month with three races and a
heavy testing schedule. After San Marino, we now have a three-day test this
week, followed by some filming on Friday. It’s pretty busy. There’s also
zero time to stop and think over a grand prix weekend, apart from maybe on
Saturday evening and a little bit on Sunday morning, and that can get
wearing, especially in the beginning when you are not used to it. After a
while, though, you get used to the routine and it’s not so bad, but it’s
hard work.
The test this week is at Silverstone and the main bulk of the work will
probably be on tyres, which we spend a lot of time on. There is definitely
an argument for everybody switching to one control tyre because at the
moment the tyres maybe have too much importance and I think it’s wrong that
the bulk of the testing work has to go into that area.
I’m really looking forward to the next race at the Nürburgring though. It’s
a circuit that I like and I’ve always had success there and I really know
the track well. So, let’s wait and see. |
