Interview with Lucas di Grassi
01/05/2008
The Bridgestone-supported GP2 Series heads to one of the toughest challenges on the calendar for the second round of the season held at the Istanbul Park Circuit alongside the Petrol Ofisi Turkish Grand Prix. Last season, Brazilian driver Lucas di Grassi won his first GP2 Series race in Istanbul, and the ART driver went on to finish second in the drivers’ championship standings. Now a test driver for the ING Renault F1 Team, di Grassi gives his wisdom ahead of this year’s Turkish races.
Q. How much did you learn in your two seasons in the GP2 Series?
A. I learned a lot from GP2: not only to drive, but also the circuits, the atmosphere and being close to Formula One. GP2 was my finishing school, my university before I got the job in Formula One. While other categories like F3 are important, I think GP2 plays a very important role as a fine tuning category; it is a fast car, very close to Formula One, and you race at the same circuits. That was the key for me to learn for Formula One.
Q. What advice would you give a driver in his first season of GP2 Series?
A. Just to take it easy. It is a very long championship, you can go through a lot of ups and downs, and there are very difficult tracks. They should try and learn as much as they can as they will need it for the following year.
Q. As a racing driver how crucial is tyre management for success?
A. I think it’s crucial because in any motorsport, from F1 to karting, it is one of the most important things. In GP2 it is especially important as we have a very, very powerful car with no traction control, so you have to really take care of your tyres during the race. How you warm up the tyres and which tyre pressure you have to use to be perfect is very difficult, so you try to be as good as you can.
Q. How much did you learn from working with the Bridgestone tyre engineers and how much has this helped you with your current role as test driver for the ING Renault F1 Team?
A. The tyre job is pretty much the same in GP2 and F1. It’s pretty much the same feedback that you must give, how quick the tyres warm-up, how good is the wear, how good is the grip. So I learned a lot from GP2, working with the engineers, and arrived in Formula One already prepared to give the correct feedback.
Q. How difficult is the Istanbul circuit? What’s the secret to a quick lap, and how should drivers manage their tyres there?
A. Istanbul is for me one of the best tracks of the season. It is one of the most difficult and has one of the best corners, the long left one [turn eight], which is really, really difficult on the body because of the G-forces. Normally it is very hot, so the tyre wear is high. I managed last year to get a good set-up on the car and tried to manage my tyre wear during the race, especially because we had an early pit stop. I managed to keep the tyres as good as possible and it paid off as I won the race.