Nick, a tough opening weekend for you in Australia and not the way you wanted to start the season…
From my perspective it was obviously disappointing – even more so because it was clear to see how much potential we have in the car. My target is always to maximise each race weekend and I didn’t manage to do that in Melbourne.
Your car was heavily damaged on the opening lap – how tough was it to drive the rest of the race?
It was very difficult. The balance obviously wasn’t what it should have been; the grip was very low and that made it difficult to keep the tyres alive. But I still tried my very best because you never know what can happen in a race and there is always a chance to score points, so I kept pushing.
Were you able to learn much about the car’s performance or the tyres?
It was impossible, but we had useful data from Vitaly’s car. However, I did learn about the procedures of the team because it was my first full race weekend working with the guys and that was helpful.
Do you feel ready to bounce back in Malaysia? What are your objectives?
You always look forward to the next one, even more so when you have had a difficult race. At the moment my objective is to forget about Australia and look forward to Malaysia.
What are your thoughts on the impact of the DRS so far? Will the effect be more obvious in Malaysia?
Yes, I think it should have a bigger impact there. Overtaking has always been easier in Malaysia because of the circuit design. You have long straights followed by slow apex corners and we should see more action.