Q+A Franck Montagny
Franck Montagny, the former Renault F1 Team test driver, took over from Yuji Ide with the Super Aguri F1 Team at the European Grand Prix. Montagny is happy to be finally in a race seat and shares his thoughts about his season so far and the Super Aguri F1 Team.
"Well I'm quite happy obviously. I'm very happy and very pleased that Super Aguri F1 Team has given me the opportunity to get into Formula One as a race driver. It's a fantastic opportunity. To drive on circuits like Monaco and Indianapolis is like a dream come true. And, yeah, of course I have always dreamt of racing in Formula One and now it has happened and I'm very grateful for that."
The SA05 is a very different car to drive than the Renault F1 car, how have you adapted your driving style?"Well, I don't know how exactly I adapted to it but for sure it's different. There are a lot of points to work on and in terms of electronic system, in terms of suspension, aerodynamics, tyres they are also quite different. So you have to take it step by step to adapt yourself to the car. You have to know exactly what is changing and why you are doing the change, so it takes a little bit of time to understand exactly what's happened, but it's not too bad."
What are your impressions of the Super Aguri F1 Team?"Quite happy, I think everybody is working towards the same goal and trying to do their best. There are a lot of people joining the team every day. It's getting better and better, but it's a young team and you can't demand miracles. It's like, take it easy and never forget that we were just born in December so it's going to be a long journey to get the first point and it's going to be a long time until we finish all the races."
What past experiences have you been able to bring to the SAF1 Team?"I think I did a lot of work with the tyres and also with all the different traction control systems. So for sure it's helpful because here it's completely different. Takuma has the experience of Honda, I have the experience of Renault. It looks a little bit different and I think it's helpful for everybody when you've got crossover of different information."
If you had the power to change anything in Formula One what would it be?"I don't know. I think it's good as it is. Maybe a little bit less testing and a bit more racing. Some people say there's not enough overtaking but it's quite normal. I think it's okay like that. It's getting better and better. Others are in charge of that, to find new ideas an so on, but I'm here to do my work and be a Formula One driver."
Finally congratulations, you came second in the Le Mans 24-hour race back in June with the all-French driver line-up Pescarolo Sport team, quickly run through how different was that race for you compared to an F1 race weekend?"It's completely different as you prepare yourself for a one year event and everybody works in the team for this race. The car is very different and you don't drive it the same way. You have to drive with a prototype and 99% of the time, with Formula One it is all the time at 100%. It's a bit different. With Formula One you are alone. With a prototype you share the driving with three other drivers and it's over 24 hours, so it's a different philosophy. But the work is the same for both categories and I think it's a very important race to the world and I was happy to finish on the podium."
Source Super Agurif1
