D'Ambrosio ready for first GP at Australia
Melbourne in March is a great place to be, and in particular for Virgin Racing F1 Team driver Jérôme D'Ambrosio, this will be a very exciting week as it is his first Grand Prix weekend as a race driver.
Never having been to Melbourne, he has a treat in store, the warm autumn temperatures coming as a pleasant change from the European winter. He'll no doubt be exploring the city at the beginning of the week, maybe checking out the skyline form the 50th floor of the Rialto Towers or heading to Foundation Square at the heart of the city, investigating the great varieties of foods on offer and picking up the buzz of the locals milling around the cafes and bars.
There's plenty to do outside of the city as well, with great surfing just down the coast, coupled with the sights of the great Ocean Road, but in the end everyone is here for the race, and here's what Jérôme, Timo and John had to say about it.
“Sunday will be a big day for me” said Jérôme D'Ambrosio. “Now that it’s just around the corner, I’m really starting to get excited about the first race in Melbourne. It’s kind of strange because I’ve been driving for the team since September last year and after four Friday free practice sessions and five tests since that time, I still have my F1 debut to look forward to. It’s been pretty busy until now but it has started to hit home and I’m really looking forward to it.
“I’ve had the best preparation I can imagine with so much running in all of the pre-season tests. I’ve also spent plenty of time in the simulator to prepare for Albert Park specifically. I’ve also spent the weeks since the last test in Barcelona really consolidating my fitness and I’m ready to start racing now. I’ve never been to Melbourne but I’ve heard great things, so I can’t wait to see it for myself.”
“An incredible place to start the season” is how Timo Glcok describes Melbourne. “The Australian Grand Prix is one of the best races on the calendar and I can’t wait to get out on track and be racing again. This will be the first chance we get to truly weigh up the competition and I think it is going to be quite interesting for all of the teams.
“Albert Park is a challenging track to get on top of. Because it’s a street circuit it takes a while to rubber in and there is very little grip on Friday. It’s quite a stop-start circuit so brake wear can be a factor. It is also quite bumpy and because the weather can change so quickly at this time of year the track conditions can vary with each session. I think the combination of this circuit together with the surprises we expect to see anyhow should make for an incredible season opener.
“The last three weeks have been less than ideal as I lost a lot of crucial track time. I spent a lot of time over the winter getting ahead of the curve with my fitness though and now I am thankful for that as I haven’t suffered asmuch as I could have. I’ve been doing a lot of cycling in particular and I’m pretty pleased with where I’m at, all things considered.”
John Booth, our Team Principal and Director of Racing had this to say. “It’s very exciting to be heading to Australia this week to begin our preparations for the first race of the season. It is disappointing for all that Bahrain was postponed but all the signs are that this was the right decision. The fact is that had we raced in Bahrain last weekend, we would have been a man down in the cockpit as Timo would still have been recovering from his appendectomy. Thankfully he’ll be fighting fit for next weekend, so the last minute change to the calendar has worked in our favour.
“Whilst it’s impossible to predict how any of the teams will fare once we all take to the track next Friday in the first real barometer of competitive performance, what I do know is this - as a racing operation we’re like night and day compared with 12 months ago. Last year we pushed too soon on car performance and it cost us in reliability terms as a result. This year we head to Melbourne with 4642kms of pre-season testing mileage under our belts and a much more reliable baseline to develop from.
“We fully expect the first few races to be challenging in terms of outright pace, but I’m comfortable that prioritising reliability and strategy will help our big picture and we’ll be in a much better place for the rest of the season. I’m looking forward to a more straightforward week of preparation leading up to the first race and to planning our opening race strategy in rather more calm circumstances than last year. Albert Park is a fantastic circuit that has produced some truly memorable racing and I hope we can do ourselves justice there.”
Source Virgin Racing
