An interesting interview from Jaime.
http://www.caranddriverthef1.com/formul ... s-en-boxes
P: ¿Are you surprised with your time?
Jaime Alguersuari: I was surprised by the performance of the supersoft tyres, I didn't expect so much potential on one lap. They gave me a lot of adherence and I was able to make a good time. I was surprised also because we were carrying a decent amount of fuel so I'm happy because all the teams must be around that levels, except obviously Red Bull and Ferrari. I think we are at a good level to begin the season but there's margin to improvement and lot of things to learn.
P: ¿Could you have done some more laps on your best stint?
JA: Yes, a lot more. The problem is degradation on the tyres. Supersoft is very very soft.
P: Pundits say supersoft only has one lap…
JA: It has one lap, like softs. You've got to make the most from that lap, know how to warm the tyres... and with supersofts it's even more important. We did a good job today, we've done probably the best we could have done, both on long stints and short ones, and the most important part, we didn't do low on fuel. Tiene una vuelta, como el blando. Esa vuelta tienes que aprovecharla, saber cómo entra en temperatura bien… y con el superblando todavía más. Nos ha salido bien, hemos hecho seguramente lo mejor que podíamos hacer hoy, tanto en stint corto como en largo y, lo más importante, no lo hemos hecho con poca gasolina. Eso es lo más positivo.
P: We would like to know how was your feeling with each compound and the time difference between them.
JA: What I could tell you here it probably won't make any sense in the next test session. Zero.
P: It depends on track temperature.
JA: Exactly. Hard compound worked on a totally different way here and in Jerez. Totally. Medium compound is quite consistent here but not in Jerez and the other way round with the hard.
P: But Pirelli only modified softs and supersofts.
JA: But there's lots of parameters to play with. We are driving like in a endurance race. When you carry 130 or 140 kilos if you push on the tyres a little bit too much you lose them. It will last only five or six laps. Even braking 20 meters before and opening gas 20 meters before, driving ultra smooth, going one second per lap slower to make them last more... they didn't last much. Pirelli was told to do this and they've done a good job, It's good for me.
P: Fine drivers?
JA: It's not that. It's good for middle teams. Not so good for top teams but I'm interested in races with four or five stops. Or even more.
P: How many do you think there will be here?
JA: Three or four I guess.
P: You lost a second in one lap on a good stint...
JA: A lot.
P: And when do you stop losing time?
JA: You've got to adjust the front wing for the race and the pressures that are very important.
P: It looks like the times never become stable.
JA: You can't make comparisons with last year. It's completely wrong. There's a moment when they don't stop degrading. You start lapping on 1'30'' or 1'31'' and you get to 1'35''. I don't know how heavy the rest were lapping, you never known. Some may carry 90 kilos for 20 laps and others 120 kilos for the same laps but you don't know the weigh difference. You can't see it. You only see tyres degrading at different rates. When you reach some degradation levels it's a security concern. There are car that could go 5 seconds faster than others or even more, for example a Red Bull or a Ferrari. When your rear tyres are wasted it becomes very difficult to keep the car on the track, specially on fast corners.
P: When you were losing five seconds in five laps or so, what was the compound?
JA: I don't remember well... hard I guess, or supposedly hard! In Jerez it worked very good, Buemi did a very long stint, a second faster than Barrichello and near Ferrari. Ultra fast. We got here with the same compound and we are losing a second per lap.
P: Are you worried?
JA: It's the same for everyone. It's not like when some teams had Michelins and others Bridgestones, when Fernando was winning. Things were different. On wet conditions, with inters... here inters do not seem to degrade, don't know why. Bridgestones didn't last more than six laps. Korea, China...
P: But last year some cars were more gently on tyres than others. Do you know where are you?
JA: No idea. We've got to race, and when temperatures change... if we go to Bahrain, with 20 or 30 degrees more things will be different, a lot.
P: How was last year's car entry on corners compared to the new one.
JA: You've got to change you driving style completely. One way for one lap and another way for the race. You have to enter the corner in a different way, look for the grip to save the tyres and get the most of them at the same time. You can't say the tyres favour one driver or another. It's silly. At the end top drivers adapt to all circumstances, dry conditions, wet conditions, with crocodiles or with 18 pit stops. Top drivers always find a plus.
P: Is there any standard style for this huge changes?
JA: Every corner is different. The drivers are different too. Buemi drives on a different way to me and I know that with the same setup, same fuel, same tyres... we are going to say different things about the car. Everyone has his own style. Fernando drives very different to Massa. Some drivers use more the front tyres. Fernando is very aggressive on front tyres. I like to get very fast to the corners and use the wheel a lot. When I started training with 125cc karts I realize I couldn't drive them like 100cc ones, taking the corners very open. I had to brake on the inside and exit on the inside, tyres straight and using gears because the engine is more powerful. Tennis and padel are not the same, right?