Robert, what are your feelings after two weeks of winter testing in the R30?
Although the bad weather has affected our track time, we’ve made a lot of progress, particularly last week in Jerez where we found some good performance. What is important is that the car is not too sensitive and that makes it easier to find a good set-up. There are a few things still to come for the other tests that will make me feel even better in the car and which will also make it quicker, but we’re definitely moving in the right direction.
How is your relationship with the team developing?
It already feels like home and it’s a nice group of people to work with. I had an idea of what Renault would be like before I joined and it has been just as I expected. The team is very motivated and looking forward to the big challenge we have ahead of us to bring Renault back to the front of the grid. Everybody is working hard and it was nice to see such a quick response from the guys in the factory to make the changes we needed after the Valencia test in time for Jerez.
Do you keep an eye on the other teams during testing or stay focussed on your own workload?
I’ve never really looked too much at what the other teams are up to. I simply concentrate on what I’m doing because even if your car is good you can always make it better. We know more or less what we need to improve and that’s where our focus is, rather than worrying about trying to be the ‘king’ of the winter tests. Anyway, it’s still too early to judge the performance of our competitors and all that matters is that we arrive in Bahrain in the best possible position.