This race is as important as the other sixteen in the season - Kovalainen

The two ING Renault F1 Team drivers, Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen, want to finish their 2007 season on a high note. They talk about their aims the day before the first free practice sessions.

HK: "In some ways it’s difficult to imagine that the championship’s nearly over. We’re fully concentrated on the coming weekend; we’re preparing for the race like any other, and we’re not thinking about what’s going to happen on Monday. The important thing is Sunday’s performance, preparing for free practice, the technical programme we have to run through etc."

GF: "The last grand prix provides the opportunity for everybody to finish the year on a high note. We’ve had a rather difficult season, especially at the start. Since mid-summer we’ve made a lot of progress with the R27, which we weren’t really able to show because of the rain that upset both the Japanese and Chinese Grand Prix. If conditions are normal this weekend and we can see the chequered flag after a good performance, it’ll be a great reward for the whole team."

HK: "We walked round it with our engineers as usual on a Thursday. It’ll be my first time out on this track at the wheel of an F1 car, but learning circuits has never been a problem for me. I’m really looking forward to taking that first corner with its very particular camber. Otherwise, Interlagos has two faces: very quick in sectors 1 and 3 and very twisty and slow in sector 2. It’s a real challenge."

GF: "These characteristics, which are particular to Interlagos, have a big influence on the car’s set-up. Usually, it’s not a good idea to privilege the best lap time possible. This implies fairly high downforce that penalises straight-line speed. Our aim is to optimise our top speed at the end of the pit straight so that we can overtake slower cars and defend our position."

HK: "More relaxed, maybe. But that doesn’t mean less concentrated on doing a good job. For us this race is as important as the other sixteen in the season. Taking things lightly is the surest way of making a mistake."

GF: "The recent races have shown that anything can happen in F1, and that you have to ready to seize the slightest opportunity. There’s no question of tackling the Brazilian Grand Prix in a casual fashion. If the possibility arises to get the maximum out of the situation on Sunday we’ll do so."