My first real home Grand Prix - Sutil

On the eve of his first GP race in his home country we spoke to Spyker F1's rookie driver, Adrian Sutil, about the upcoming European Grand Prix at the Nürbürgring, the recent test at Spa, and the season so far.

"Like you said, it was the first Friday last year, and I have good memories. The track is very nice, it’s very special, it’s a track with a lot of history and I like the area all around it. It’s a little bit like Spa, and one of my favourites. It’s my first real home Grand Prix as an F1 driver. I’m really looking forward to seeing some fans for me. I think there will be some support. I’m not a real frontrunner at the moment, so the more fans will be for Ralf or Heidfeld maybe, but I think there should be some of mine as well!"

"It was very nice, I enjoyed it. I was there in F3 in 2005 and even with those cars the track was so good, and now in an F1 car it’s crazy. It’s the best circuit I think in the calendar, really. It’s a great place, and I’m really looking forward to the race in September."

"The time was in completely dry conditions in the morning, and everybody did their times in the dry. So I was quite happy with this time in the dry conditions, the gap to the front was not that big, so it was really good. In the wet it was even better, we were doing the same times as Ferrari and McLaren. Sometimes it was a little bit better conditions, sometimes a little bit worse. I think in the rain we showed our potential."

"In qualifying we always have problems to be a little bit more competitive. Our strength is more in the races, we’re closer to the field then. I think it’s just a problem from the downforce and the tyres. We can’t really get a lot of grip out of the tyres because our car is not pressing enough onto the ground – the other cars have maybe 200kgs more downforce, and they’re just using the tyres more, and then you get a little bit more out in the qualifying. I think this is also the reason why we’re a little bit stronger in the race, because we save the tyres."

"I think the most competitive race was Indianapolis, in my opinion. I think it was the best one. It’s always quite hard to say if it’s a good race or not for the people outside, everybody thinks it’s terrible, if you’re always last, but we have to see our possibilities with the car. We must be realistic, I know what is possible with the car. Indianapolis was such a race, we could really race the other cars, and we were very close to them. That’s why I say it was a really good race. We were really fighting with Toro Rosso, the Aguris, and on first lap also with a Williams. Also the times in the middle stint and the last stint were competitive to the midfield, so this was absolutely unique."

"For sure this was frustrating, absolutely, but I would say the Monaco weekend was one of the most successful weekends for us, mainly in the free practice session on Saturday. There was a good thing and a bad thing! In the end I was frustrated about the race, because the race is the most important, but it was not terrible. My feelings were mixed."

"I did 17 laps and had an engine blow-up. It was a shame, because it was too early! It could have been a good race. We were following Davidson and Button, and the gap was staying the same, so for us the situation was not too bad. I guess the soft tyre run would have been much, much better."

"Yes, I think it will be different. The guys are absolutely convinced that the car is better, the wind tunnel shows us how big the difference is. I trust them, and I think we’ll do a little step. Normally if the car is good, it should be fast straight away."