I think I can do a good job there - Yamamoto
In advance of this week's Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, Spyker Formula One Team driver Sakon Yamamoto talks about his expectations for the final race of the season. As Interlagos is one of Yamamoto's favourite tracks, the Japanese driver is looking forward to this weekend.
"At the end of the day we can say the tyre decision was wrong, but at that time nobody knew what was going to happen. We expected that heavy rain would be coming straight after the race started, so we used the extreme tyres. Unfortunately the rain didn't come!"
How difficult was it at the start?"For the first couple of laps I drove to take care of the tyres, because the track conditions were only good for standard wets, and the amount of water wasn't enough for extreme tyres. I just felt that I had to keep the tyre condition good, because if you use them too hard, then after that you lose the value of choosing the extreme tyres in the first place. The situation was difficult, the rain didn't come, and we changed to the standard wets. At that time the race was basically finished for us in terms of competitiveness, so I just decided just to finish the race as well as possible. The car balance was quite understeery, and it was very difficult to drive, but at the end of the race I did some good lap times, and getting another finish was a plus."
Last year you set seventh fastest lap in Brazil after a late stop for new tyres. Are you excited about going back?"Brazil is one of my favourite circuits, and I want to do a really good race there. Last year my car wasn't really great, so in that kind of situation it was an amazing result that we could be seventh quickest in the race, and also I was second quickest in the second sector. So I'm really looking forward to driving there."
What do you like about the circuit?"I like the layout, especially Sector 2 of course! It's very complicated, just right, left, right. As an F1 circuit it is a bit tight, but if you've got the rhythm, it's really good fun."
The car works well in low downforce trim. Will that be an advantage?"Yes, it's good if you have a low downforce car there, and for sure your straightline speed is going to be quicker. Then the problem is how you manage Sector 2, the twisty section. But as I said I like it, and I think I can do a good job there."
