Piquet ready to prove himself at Sepang
The ING Renault F1 Team reflects on the opening race of the season in Melbourne and looks ahead to this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang. Despite being forced to retire the Australian race, Nelson Piquet Jr. had a competitive race. The Brazilian hopes to repeat this at Sepang with some points.
"Yes, I had a really good start to the race and made up a lot of ground on the first lap, but after the safety car came out I started having some problems with the brakes. When the race restarted I was fighting with Rosberg and managed to get passed him, but when I touched the brakes they were totally gone, which caused me to spin into the gravel. Fortunately I didn’t hit anything and there was no damage to the car, but it was a real shame because I was well placed and I think we could have had a strong finish in the points."
Tell us about the Sepang circuit and what it’s like to race there..."It’s a very wide and open track which offers several good overtaking opportunities and usually produces close and competitive racing. There are two long straights where our KERS should make a difference and help us to overtake. In terms of the hot temperatures, it is always a very physical race for the drivers as well as the team, but I’ve been training hard over the winter to prepare for the season and so the heat and humidity should not be too much of an issue."
How will you approach this weekend’s race in Malaysia?"I’ve already put Melbourne behind me and I’m fully focussed on coming back with a strong weekend in Sepang. We know we need to improve our performance, but we also learnt a lot about the R29 in Melbourne and we will use that information during free practice to try and find a better balance with the car. As a circuit Sepang will also give us a better idea of our competitiveness as it’s a more conventional track than Melbourne and I’m looking forward to driving there."
