The secret diary of Sutil

Adrian Sutil, the Spyker F1 Team driver, was one of the three rookie drivers that made their Grand Prix debut in Melbourne. Here you can read how the youngster found his first-ever Formula One weekend.

"I learned so much in my first race weekend in Australia, everything from pit stops, to how you have to go to the limit, and even coming into the pits. The radio communication discipline is something new for me too - they ask you how the balance is, and you have to tell them while driving, while pushing. The start procedure is very different from all other categories too. In the beginning you think it’s very difficult, but it gets easier and easier as you get used to everything. Now I really feel much better and more confident for Malaysia.

I had been to Australia once before, for the A1 GP race near Sydney, and I really like the place. Earlier in the week I was invited by the air force to have a ride in a stunt place. I’ve always had a dream to do something like this. We did some loops in the air, and I felt I was in a Top Gun movie, with the overalls and helmet.

The thing I really noticed was my schedule was unbelievable, one meeting to the next. All day you’re busy, and when you go to the hotel at 8pm you are finished. Then you have to wake up early the next morning, and everything goes so fast! I didn’t expect so much media stuff. I had a lot of interest from German TV, and that was nice to see. I think they like having a fourth German driver, and they’re trying to push me.

Melbourne was a new circuit for me, and of course we had difficult conditions on the Friday because of the rain. Everything was new and it was very busy for me, but I enjoyed every minute, as it was a great feeling to be going out on the track for the first time as a race driver.

I don’t take long to learn new tracks, and after the first session I felt I knew everything about the track. It wasn’t that difficult. Most of the corners are the same style, and there’s nothing really special about it.

The main difference to the Fridays I did last year was that we were deeper in the set-up work. Last year it was only tyre testing, with maybe only small set-up changes. This year I do everything. But of course the main difference was on Saturday, which was a completely new situation for me.

We had done some low fuel running in Barcelona, and a bit on Friday. It’s always the best feeling to drive a light car with new tyres. The balance came closer to where we wanted to be, and qualifying wasn’t that bad, just two and a half seconds off the front. But the entire field is close together, and we were the last team. I made no real mistakes, and I’m sure I can go more to the limit in the next race. But for the first qualifying I was really happy.

I did a really good start, and pulled away well from the line. At the first corner I tried to attack, but there were cars everywhere, and it was hard to find some space and a way through! I think I gained one or two positions, and I was always keeping on the outside line, then I had a little moment with Anthony Davidson.

He tried to overtake me on the outside, and then he suddenly closed the door, but I was there. We touched and he nearly did a nice rollover – he was really flying there – and I had to spin. I spun the car round again, which was no problem because I’m a good burnout man on computer games! But still I lost 10-15 seconds, which was a shame, but these things can happen in your first race.

I had done two races in A1 GP with pit stops, but it’s a different style, really relaxed. You go at 60km/h, you stop for 20 seconds, and you go out. So F1 was very different, and really difficult at first. Everything is very narrow, you have to find the braking point for the speed limit, you have to find your pit, you stop for six or seven seconds, and straight away you are out again. You have no time to re-set or calm down a little bit.

The two drive through penalties were a disappointment. I had to do a drive through one time because they thought I was holding up somebody. For the second one I touched the white line a little bit coming out of the pits. It won’t happen again in Malaysia, as I’m well prepared for it now!

I really pushed the car through the corners, and I felt I was nearly where I wanted to be. Every time you learn something more, you are more comfortable in the car, you feel well, and you get some extra tenths out of the car. Like every category, the longer you sit in the car, the faster you are.

I did some good lap times, and in fact I did the fastest lap time for our car all weekend in the race. It was better than we expected. We are close to Toro Rosso, we are even close to Honda – really close! We just need a few more tenths. We have an aero update in Malaysia, so hopefully we will be more competitive there.

I’ve had time off between the races, time to think and learn. After Australia I went on holiday with Lewis in Indonesia and Thailand – and I’ll tell you about that next time! You can’t do something like that with anybody, but Lewis and I are still in a good situation for friendship, because I don’t race against him at the moment.

Maybe it will change if we are competitors, if I’m in a really good car at the front, and we are fighting for the win. But right now I am very happy to be friends with him. I was happy to see him do well, and everyone knows how good he is now. But I know my time will come. If I work hard and do my best, I’m sure I will step up."