Joint interview with Kovalainen and Fisichella

The ING Renault F1 Team’s drivers, Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen, who arrived in Japan earlier on this week for promotional work and also to get over the time difference, give us their first impressions of the new Japanese circuit.

Giancarlo Fisichella: “This morning I did a complete lap of the track with the engineers. It’s what we do on circuits all over the world but this time we paid even closer attention to the various tricky sections. Then, thanks to the simulation work we’d already done we tried to define the best braking points, the optimum gear ratios for each corner etc. I think it’ll be okay.”

Heikki Kovalainen: “Usually I look at a few DVDs of the previous races, and I keep a close eye on the on-board cameras. But Fuji is a new circuit for the team and obviously we haven’t got any videos of it. I reconnoitred the track as soon as we arrived on Wednesday, and I did another lap of it again this morning with the engineers. Now we’ll have to wait for Friday to have a clearer idea.”

HK: “It looks fairly easy to learn. There are two heavy braking zones and the rest consists mainly of classic left-right corners. The final corners don’t pose any particular problems; all you have to do is to select the right gear. As always, it’s a question of learning the layout as quickly as possible.”

GF: “There are several interesting places on this circuit: turns 5 and 6 for example look fairly tricky. The final section is a bit slow with first and second gear corners. I think there’ll also be a few traps because of poor visibility. This is because there’s a part of the track that falls away, and in one corner in particular it’s impossible to see the apex. The circuit looks quite interesting but I still think that Suzuka is the yardstick in Japan.”

HK: “I’ve just scored points for the sixth consecutive time and that’s very positive. Over the last few races I’ve been able to match my very experienced team-mate’s performances. The team and me have worked very hard to improve the car since the beginning of the year. Honestly, I was disappointed with my start to the season, and as I’ve already said, I made too many mistakes. That’s something I’m going to work on this winter to begin 2008 in the best possible conditions. Since then things have got a lot better. More than ever my aim is to score the maximum number of points and finish in the first six each time.”

GF: “The aim will be to score a few points and stay in front of Williams. It goes without saying that I want to drive a solid race.”